Who's Playing Who
by Monica83
Summary: Draco decides to seduce Hermione...will he succeed or will it all backfire on him?
1. I'm going to break her

**Title**: Who's Playing Who?

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything……just the computer I am using.

**Summary**: Draco decides to seduce Hermione. Will he succeed, or will he be the one who is seduced?

**Author's Note**: I know that this story is going to be OOC and not very original but that's pretty much the point. If you don't like it, then don't read it. Please don't send me reviews saying how OOC it is and how it is totally overplayed…I already know that. :) Now, I put two story ideas I had together and this is the finished product. I hope you like it.

--

Hermione Granger stood in the doorway and looked around at her room. Being the Head Girl for her seventh and final year at Hogwarts, she had a huge bedroom all to herself. The walls were white and the carpet was a deep red. Her king size four-poster bed had gold silk sheets and a quilt the same color as her carpet. A dark mahogany desk and chair sat to the right of her bed and a dresser in the same color was to the left. To the far right was a huge walk-in closet and directly across from her bed was a couch. In the far corner of the room stood a full-length mirror and Hermione went over and studied herself.

Hermione had spent the summer with her cousin who lived in Florida. After about two weeks of putting up with all the stares and comments about her bushy, unmanageable hair, Hermione got fed up and let her cousin take her to a salon. When all was said and done, Hermione had straight, shiny brown hair with very subtle red highlights and it fell about two inches past her shoulder blades. Hermione would have been perfectly content to sleep until noon but her cousin had her up at the crack of dawn for an early run on Miami Beach every morning. When she wasn't at the mall spending every cent she had, she was on the beach with her cousin and her cousin's friends swimming and playing volleyball. Spending so much time in the sun had paid off and her skin had a healthy glowing tan, instead of the pasty look she had had for so many years. Hermione had spent most of her life with her nose in books and it really was great being to actually be a girl if only for a few months. Although she got many compliments from people, and turned quite a few heads, she didn't see any difference. To her, she was the same old Hermione Granger, and a bookworm to boot.

Hermione glared at her reflection and began to unpack her things. Ten minutes later, she heard a door shut outside her room and guessed that it was the new Head Boy. She had no idea who it was, so she decided to take a peek. She opened the door and descended her staircase to see who it was. Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson were standing next to the fireplace inspecting the common room. The common room was twice the size of Hermione's bedroom and was decorated in red and silver for both Gryffindor and Slytherin. To the left of the front entrance was a fireplace with a large red couch and coffee table directly across from the fireplace. There was a huge area rug in dark green and red under the couch and coffee table. To the right of the front entrance was a large bookcase jam-packed with books and an overstuffed chair that matched the couch next to the bookcase. Behind the couch was a Wizard's Chessboard. To the left of the room there was a staircase than led to the Head Boy's bedroom and on the right was the staircase that led to the Head Girl's bedroom. In between the staircases was a door that led to the bathroom. Between the couch and the bathroom door, there was a large dining room table for meals when either the Head Boy or Girl, or both decided to eat here rather than in the Great Hall. The three Slytherins turned to see who had joined them and Pansy glared at the Head Girl.

"Bloody Hell." Hermione swore.

"I should have known." Draco Malfoy sneered at her.

Hermione glared at Draco and Blaise and ignored Pansy all together, "So, which one of you is it? Not like I want to share a common room with either _ONE_ of you."

Draco stepped forward, "That would be me."

"Figures." Hermione groaned.

Draco sneered at her, "I'm not too happy about it either Mudblood."

Hermione had gotten so used to him calling her a Mudblood, she just rolled her eyes, "That doesn't work on me anymore Malfoy. This is my last year at Hogwarts and _NO_ one is going to ruin it for me, especially not an arrogant little git like you."

"I can't believe she is the Head Girl." Pansy said to Draco looking at Hermione disgustedly.

"Tell me about it. It doesn't surprise me though; all that sucking up was bound to pay off eventually." Draco said.

Blaise and Pansy snickered and Hermione glared at him, "I'm the Head Girl because I worked for it which is more than I can say for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pansy barked.

"My father didn't have to buy my way in to this honor. That's what it means." Hermione sneered at Pansy.

"Why you little mud-" Pansy started before Hermione cut her off.

"Mind who you talk to like that Parkinson. I have the authority to take points away from you _and _your house." Hermione cut her eyes to Draco, "Do you _always_ let her speak for you Malfoy?"

"How dare you speak to him like that!" Pansy shrieked.

"Shut _up_ Pansy!" Draco growled.

Hermione chuckled, "You _show_ her Malfoy."

Draco stormed over to Hermione and grabbed her arm, jerking her forward so she could feel his hot breath on her face, "You had better be more respectful to your _superiors_ Granger!"

Hermione glared daggers at him, "I'll remember that next time I see them!"

She yanked her arm out of his viselike grip and pushed past him and stalked out of the room.

Blaise watched Hermione leave with an amused expression on his face, "That girl has got a backbone; talking to you like that."

Draco looked at him, "And if she's not careful, I'm going to rip it right out of her."

"Can I watch?" Pansy asked with a growl. "I have to go meet some friends. I'll see you at dinner." She gave Draco a quick kiss and sashayed out of the room.

Blaise looked at Draco, "Did you get a good look at Granger? Such a shame to waste a body like that on a Mudblood."

"Yes, but something will have to be done about her attitude." Draco added.

Blaise smirked at Draco, "What did you have in mind?"

Draco thought for a second.

"She definitely has…improved…physically over the summer, and that gives me an idea." he smiled.

Blaise looked intrigued, "Do tell."

"It's our first day back and already I'm bored. I think we need a little something to spice things up." Draco smirked.

"Let me guess, you get to have all the fun and I just get to watch…" Blaise said.

Draco just looked at him, "Continue." Blaise said.

"I think it's about time that someone put that know-it-all mudblood in her place."

"And that someone would be you?"

"Exactly."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to break her. Since the day we came to Hogwarts she has despised me with every ounce of her being, and I likewise. What do you think would happen if she were to fall for her worst enemy?"

"You just said that she despises you…why would she fall for you?"

"Have you _ever_ seen a girl turn me down?"

"Touché…but this Hermione Granger we are talking about. She isn't like all the other girls. Why her anyway?"

"I'm sick and bloody tired of her holier-than-thou attitude that she's had for the past six years. Now it's time to knock her off her high horse. Plus…I'm bored." Draco smirked.

"You're going to ruin Granger's life because you are bored?" Blaise asked.

"Yes." Draco stated simply.

Blaise grinned and stuck out his hand and the boys shook, "Well then, Good luck!"

--

Please R&R and let me know what you think! :)


	2. Every girl has her breaking point

As the Great Hall filled with students getting ready for the first feast of the New Year, Hermione met Harry and Ron at their table.

Harry smiled at her, "How's your dormitory?"

Hermione grinned, "My bedroom is beautiful; It's also huge! The only bad thing is that I have to share a common room with that git Malfoy. However, I do get my own bathroom, so I'm not complaining."

Ron scowled, "I can't believe you have to live with that prat."

"I can't believe he made Head Boy." Hermione stated.

"Don't worry Hermione, if he gives you any trouble, we'll beat him to a bloody pulp." Ron said matter-of-factly.

Harry grinned.

Hermione smiled, "Thanks guys, but I think I can deal with it myself. I plan on seeing him as little as possible."

"Let's talk about something other than the ferret." Ron growled.

"Want to go see Hagrid after dinner?" Harry asked the other two.

"Oh, not tonight, I'm beat. After dinner, I was planning on going right to bed. How about tomorrow night?" Hermione said.

"Ok, that's fine. I'm kind of tired too." Harry agreed.

"Sounds good to me." Ron said.

---

When everyone was settled McGonagall led the group of first years into the great hall and the sorting ceremony began. After all the first years were in at their new tables, Dumbledore stood up.

"For all of you first years, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For everyone else, welcome to a new school year. First off, I would like to announce your new Head Boy and Girl for the year. From Gryffindor, Ms. Hermione Granger."

Hermione stood up and blushed when the whole hall erupted with applause and cheers except from the Slytherin table; they all glared at Hermione, except for Draco and Blaise; they just grinned at each other.

Dumbledore continued, "And from Slytherin, Mr. Draco Malfoy."

The whole Slytherin table thundered with applause when Draco stood up with a superior smirk on his face. Everyone else applauded politely, even the Gryffindors, though most of them were glaring at him.

Dumbledore went on with the rest of the announcements and then the great feast began.

---

After dinner, Hermione went to her dorm. Just before turning the corner, Hermione heard muffled voices.

"A whole summer is really too long to go without seeing each other at all. Don't you agree?"

"Hmm-mm." Draco said in between kisses.

"Draco, listen to me."

"Pansy, there will be plenty of time for talking later."

Hermione cringed, Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were snogging right in front of the place she wanted to be. She clenched her teeth and walked right up to them.

"Do you mind taking this elsewhere? I need to get inside."

The couple stopped kissing and looked right at Hermione and Pansy glared at her, "Mind your own business Mudblood."

Hermione smacked Pansy right across the face, "I warned you about speaking to me like that Parkinson. I am Head Girl and you WILL show me some respect unless you want me to strip your house of ALL their points!"

Draco gave her an amused look.

Pansy held her reddening cheek, "How dare you, you filthy Mud…"

"Fifty points from Slytherin! Now get back to your common room before I deduct more points for being out after hours!"

Pansy looked at Draco, "Are you going to let her talk to me like that?" She demanded.

"I'm afraid she's right Pansy." Draco said, all the while looking at Hermione.

Pansy glared at both of them and stormed off.

Hermione had a triumphant smirk on her face as she watched Pansy disappear.

"Feel better Granger?" Malfoy asked.

"Yes, actually I do. Malfoy, if you insist on continuing where you left off with the female student body last year, could you please do it when I'm not around? I'd like to keep my dinner down, thank you." Hermione stated.

"Jealous?" Malfoy smirked at her.

"Hardly." Hermione rolled her eyes. She said the password, and the door opened right up. She walked in with Draco following close behind.

"You've chased away my entertainment for the night Granger. What am I supposed to do with my night now?" Draco asked.

Hermione noticed him giving her the once over and she glared at him, "What are you looking at Malfoy?"

"Perfection." Draco simply said.

Hermione snorted, "That might work on the Slytherin whores, but it sure as Hell won't work on me."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that Granger. Every girl has her breaking point; it's only a matter of time before I find yours." Having said that, Draco went to his room, shutting the door behind him.

Hermione stared at his door in disbelief, "Did Draco Malfoy just hit on me?" She asked herself. She just shook her head and went to her room.

---

The next morning, Hermione got up around nine. She picked out her clothes for the day and went to her bathroom. The portrait on the door was a woman of about 30 sitting under a tree reading a book.

She smiled at Hermione, "Good morning dear."

"Good morning." Hermione smiled. She whispered the password to the lady and went inside.

After she showered and dressed, she emerged from the bathroom just as Draco had emerged from his room. His pajamas consisted of a pair of dark green flannel bottoms and nothing more.

"Could you possibly put on a shirt next time you emerge Malfoy?" Hermione asked, rather annoyed.

Draco yawned and looked at her, "Do you have to be such a prude Granger?" He watched her for a second and then smiled, "Unless you're having problems maintaining your excitement at the sight of me."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I'm having problems maintaining my gag reflex at the sight of you."

She marched passed him and out the door heading for breakfast.

Draco rolled his eyes and just went to his bathroom; it was too early to deal with her right now.

---

Hermione spent her day going over her schedule with Ron and Harry, reading over her new books, and just enjoying the fact that she was finally in her 7th year.

After dinner, Ginny came up to Hermione's room to catch up on everything that had happened during the summer.

"I can't believe you have to live with Malfoy all year. It's going to be hell." Ginny said.

"Tell me about it." Hermione whined.

"I suppose you could do a lot worse."

Hermione looked at Ginny like she'd gone crazy, "How's that?"

"Malfoy is so hot!"

"Right." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You know he is. Him, Ron and Harry are the best looking guys in the school and you get to interact with all three of them on a daily basis. Two are your very best friends, and you're living with the other one. There's not a single girl…other than me who's not incredibly jealous of you now. Ron is the adorable one, Harry's the brave, handsome one, and Malfoy is the dangerous, hot one. You really do have it made you know."

Hermione looked appalled, "You're talking about my two best friends Ginny! They are like brothers to me. As for Malfoy, he's just an insufferable git; hot or not."

"So you admit he's hot?" Ginny asked.

"I am not blind Ginny. I just have standards."

"Your still the luckiest girl in the school." Ginny concluded as she went to Hermione's closet and started looking through it.

She pulled out a black clothing bag and held it up, "What's this?"

Hermione looked at it, "Oh that. My cousin bought it for me this summer…like she thought that I'd actually wear it."

Ginny opened the bag and gasped, "Oh wow! This dress is beautiful! Have you tried it on?"

"Why would I do that? I'm never going to wear it."

"Why not? It's amazing!"

"It's not me."

"I want to see you in it."

"No way."

"Oh come one, I won't tell anyone. Aren't you the least bit curious to see how it looks on you?"

Hermione looked at the dress for a minute, and then sighed, "Ok, but you have to promise that you won't tell anyone about this!"

Ginny smiled, "I promise!"

Ginny turned around while Hermione quickly changed into the dress. She smoothed it out and then told Ginny to turn around.

Ginny's jaw dropped, "Oh Hermione, you look gorgeous!"

Hermione smiled, "Really?"

"Yes!" She squealed.

Hermione slowly went over to her mirror. The dress was all black and had spaghetti straps. It hugged her tightly showing off all of her curves, and stopped just about three or four inches above her knees.

Hermione frowned, "I so do not have the body for a dress like this."

Ginny scoffed, "Please tell me you're kidding. That dress was _made _for you!"

"Dresses like this don't look good on me."

"Hermione, with or without the dress, you are one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen."

Hermione smiled at her friend, "You're sweet Ginny; crazy, but sweet."

"You really have no idea how pretty you are, do you?"

Before Hermione could respond, she heard yelling outside her bedroom.

"_Say that again Malfoy and that'll be the last thing you ever say!"_

"_Ron, calm down."_

Hermione recognized Ron and Harry's voices.

Forgetting that she was wearing the dress, Hermione threw open the door to find Harry standing behind Ron, who was pulling back like he was about to hit Draco who was right in front of him.

Hermione ran out of the room and screamed at Ron, "Ron, don't!"

Ron put his fist down and the three boys turned to look at Hermione and their jaws dropped at the sight.

Hermione, however, didn't even notice, "What are you doing?!"

After a moment of silence, Draco spoke, "What did I tell you Weasley?"

Ron tore his gaze away from Hermione and went to punch Draco, but Hermione grabbed his arm, "Stop! What's going on?!" She demanded again.

Ron glared at Draco, "He said something about you."

"He always says something about me!"

"Yea, but…never mind. What are you _wearing_ Hermione?" Ron looked at her dress.

Hermione looked down at her dress then back at Ron, "It's called a dress. I know, I know, it looks horrible on me."

"That's not the word I would use…" Harry said.

It does _not _look horrible Hermione! You look beautiful." Ginny insisted.

Hermione couldn't understand why everyone was making such a fuss. She could feel Draco's gaze burning a hole through her. She looked at him just as he spoke, "Beautiful…well, that's not what I'd call it." Draco smirked.

Everyone glared at him and Ron and Harry saw the look Draco was giving Hermione and they both walked towards him with their fists clenched.

Hermione stood between them, "Stop it now!"

Hermione sighed, "What are you two doing here anyway?"

They shot one last glare at Malfoy then looked at Hermione, "Um…we are supposed to go do that thing, remember? You weren't up to it last night." Harry said, trying to jog Hermione's memory.

"Oh! Right, that thing. Well, let me go change first." She shot daggers at Malfoy, and then disappeared to change.

Ron turned to Malfoy, "If you ever look at her like that again, I'll make it so you never see anything ever again." He spat.

"Then maybe you should tell her to stop dressing like that." Draco gave a superior smirk.

Hermione appeared again wearing simple khaki pants and a baby blue shirt, "Ok, let's go."

She glared at Malfoy once again then her, Ginny, Ron and Harry left the common room.

When the got outside, Hermione looked at Ron, "So what did Malfoy say that made you want to hit him?"

"He called you a slut." Ron growled.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "That's it? Ron, he's called me a lot worse. Your temper is too short for your own good."

"Well, you coming out in that…dress didn't help anything." Ron complained.

"Ginny saw it in my closet and wanted to see how it looked, that's all. I was a bit curious too. Don't worry, you'll never see it again.; It's not me."

Without another word, the three headed off to Hagrid's hut.

---

To be continued…


	3. Teach me how to be less boring

Hermione woke up at 5:30 on Monday morning because she couldn't sleep anymore. She was so excited about starting her classes and her final year of Hogwarts. Since she had a while before breakfast, she decided to take a bath and relax. Even though she was excited, she was also pretty nervous. She grabbed her robe and towel and went to her own private bathroom. She walked up to the portrait that guarded her bathroom and whispered the password then stepped inside. It was almost as big as her bedroom with a gold colored bathtub and sink. The bathtub was about the size of two normal tubs with a swan's head as the faucet. She turned the handles and crystal clear warm water poured out of the swan. She chose a peach and chamomile bubble bath and poured some into her water. When the tub was full, she slipped out of her pajamas and stepped into the tub. She sank deep into the water until just her head was above it. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. After about a half hour, the water was cool so Hermione decided it was time to get out. She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around herself, then stepped out and dried herself off. She wrapper her towel around her hair then put her robe on. When she was about half way back to her room, she heard a voice.

"I don't suppose you left me any hot water."

Hermione whipped around and saw Draco sitting in a chair scowling at her.

"Jesus Malfoy, I'm going to put a bell on you so you can't sneak up on people!" Hermione spat.

Malfoy smirked at her, "Well, did you take all the hot water?"

"What if I did? I'm sure you'd never be considerate enough to leave _me_ any hot water."

He changed the subject, "So, when are you going to model that little dress just for me?"

Hermione sneered at him, "The day you drop dead is the day that I'll model that dress for the whole world!"

She turned around again and stormed to her room.

At breakfast, Draco was griping to Blaise, "This is going to be harder than I thought. She has got a stick shoved so far up her ass it's practically coming out her mouth."

Blaise just smiled, "Well, then you are just going to have to loosen her up."

"Yea, if I don't kill her first."

At the Gryffindor table, Harry and Ron kept staring at Hermione. She finally got tired of it and glared at them, "What?"

Ron put his fork down, "Harry and I were thinking about you all night. Are you having some sort of identity crisis?"

Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances, "What on Earth are you talking about?"

"Well, that dress you were wearing last night. It's just not you."

Hermione was starting to get annoyed, "What's wrong with the dress? It didn't look _that_ bad on me."

"That's just it Hermione, it looked…really good on you. You never dress like that. You are always so…plain."

Ginny and Hermione glared at them, "So is that what you two think of me? I'm just a plain, boring person?"

Harry smiled softly, "We didn't mean it like that Hermione."

"Oh really, then how exactly did you mean it?"

Harry and Ron looked at each other and Ron decided the answer, "We love you Hermione; you know we do. It's just…you are always doing your homework or reading or doing something that has to do with school. You don't spend as much time with your friends as you do with your books. Also, aside from Viktor Krum, have you ever had a crush on anyone? When was the last time you went on a date or even hung out with a guy that wasn't me or Harry?"

Hermione's face was getting redder every second that Ron kept talking, "Get to the point Ronald."

"When you came out in that dress yesterday, it was…"

"Shocking." Harry finished.

"Yes, shocking. I didn't even know you owned a dress like that."

At this point, steam would have been coming out of Hermione's ears if that had been possible, "What I chose to wear and whom I chose to date and how I chose to spend my free time is absolutely none of your business Weasley!"

Ron flinched at the use of his last name by his best friend.

Hermione got up and stormed out of the Great Hall.

Harry looked at Ron, "That went well."

During potions class, Hermione ignored Ron and Harry and thinking about what they had said to her at breakfast. So maybe she wasn't the hottest girl alive, but she wasn't boring …was she? So she spent most of her time doing homework and reading, but she also spent time with her friends too. And what was this whole dating business that Ron had been going on about? Getting good grades were more important than spending all her time drooling over some stupid boy. As if on cue, her attention turned to Malfoy as he was throwing paper airplanes at someone's head when Snape wasn't looking. Although she would never actually admit this to anyone, Draco Malfoy was hot. He was the poster child for 'sexy as Hell bad boys' and just looking at him, she knew that he knew it. His hair wasn't slicked back with three gallons of gel anymore; now it just hung loosely on his head and was just long enough to fall over his eyes. The years that he had spent on the Quidditch team had done both his skin and his body good. He knew exactly what to do to get all the girls to want him and make all the guys want to be him.

--

After dinner that night, Hermione was sitting across from Draco in their common room.

"What?" He asked, not looking away from his book.

"I want you to help me with a little problem I'm having."

"Sorry, no one can help you fix your face." Draco smirked.

Hermione kept smiling, "Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of you helping me to…open Ron and Harry's eyes."

Draco looked at her, but didn't close his book, "What are you talking about Granger?"

"Those two…prats think I am boring."

"You _are _boring."

Hermione glared at him, but didn't argue, "Well, I want to change that and you are just the person who is going to help me. They think that I am a prude or something just because I never date and I spend most of my time with a book."

Draco cracked a smile, "You've got to be kidding. What on Earth would make you think that I would ever help you?"

"See, I thought you would say that. That's why I made sure that you wouldn't be able to refuse. I know that you've been teaching the Dark Arts to a 6th year Ravenclaw in exchange for him doing all of your Transfigurations homework for the year."

Draco's smile vanished, "How did you find out?"

"That's my little secret. Can you imagine the look on McGonagall's face if I were to tell her that you've been cheating this whole year?"

Draco glared at her, "That's blackmail Granger."

"So it is….oh well; a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. You going to cooperate?"

"Do I have a choice in the matter?"

"Of course you do; you can either help me or you can spend the rest of the year in detention. Assuming she won't try to get you expelled." Hermione smiled again.

Draco slammed his book shut, "What do I have to do?"

"You are anything but boring and you are definitely _not _a prude. I want you to teach me how to be less boring and…prudish. Besides, if those two were to think that I was getting closer to you, they would definitely think I was anything but boring. Not to mention that it would drive them absolutely insane thinking that there was something going on between us."

Draco was just about to laugh in her face when he realized that this new development could help him in his plan to destroy Hermione and her world. Draco pretended to be mad, but he was secretly very thrilled by the idea, "You expect me to pretend that I like you? I can't even stand to look at you."

Hermione glared at him, "Well, it's either that or I tell McGonagall everything. What's it gonna be?"

He looked at her for a moment, "So I just have to give you lessons on how to be more…like me?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"If I do this for you, you have to promise that you won't tell _anyone _about me cheating."

"Ok, as long as you _stop_ cheating and start doing your own homework."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Fine."

Hermione grinned, "Excellent."

A few moments of awkward silence passed between them before Hermione spoke again, "So…now what?"

Draco looked at her for a moment, "You have no idea what you're doing do you?"

Hermione glared at him and Draco grinned. This was the chance he'd been looking for and she had no idea. He stood up, walked over to her and pulled her up by her arm. There was only a couple inches of space between them and Hermione's breath caught in her throat a bit and Draco noticed, "Relax Granger; if you want your…friends to think that there's something going on between us, you're gonna have to relax."

Hermione relaxed a bit, "I suppose you're right."

"That's better. First of all;" Draco pulled his wand out and pointed it at Hermione. Before she could protest, he whispered a spell and Hermione felt her shirt get tighter and he skirt shorter. Next he went into her room and said the same spell for all of her clothes.

She looked down and then glared at Draco, "That was _not _part of our deal!"

"If I have to do this, then you have to be _worth_ it. The fact that you are a mudblood will _never_ make you worthy, but this is a start." Draco smirked.

"If you call me a Mudblood one more time I'm telling McGonagall and I'll do this myself."

Draco frowned, "Take away all my fun why don't you."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well, now what?"

Draco stared at her for a moment then suddenly he advanced on her and she was trapped between him and the wall. She gasped at the sudden contact between the two of them and Draco smirked.

"That's why the Moron Twins think that you are a prude. When a member of the opposite sex gets anywhere near you, you get all tense; you need to loosen up and relax. You are too frigid."

"Believe me, I'm only like this when _you _are near me; you make me nervous."

"Well, I do what I can." Hermione wanted to beat that smirk off his face.

Draco lost his smirk and slowly put his hands on her small waist. He brushed his fingers against her bare skin and Hermione shivered.

"If you want people to think that you aren't boring you have to _not _be boring. You have to be confidant and know what you want." Draco whispered.

"And how is you man-handling me going to make me confidant?" Hermione barely got the words out.

"Believe me Granger, I am not man-handling you. I am trying to loosen you up. People think you are boring because of the way you dress and because you constantly have your nose in a book and because you only have a few friends and you never date. Never again will you _ever _hear me say this, so listen carefully; you are a beautiful girl and you have to believe it if you want everyone else to believe it to."

Hermione couldn't help but smile when she heard those words leave Draco's mouth. Draco ignored her and continued, "When a guy looks at you, you can't blush or look away; when a guy touches you, you can't tense up. You have to…be confidant."

Draco pulled her away from the door and stood behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and slowly ran them down her arms. He moved them down her stomach and just barely dipped his fingers below the top of her skirt. Hermione sucked in some air as quietly as she could. She had to remind herself that the only reason why he was doing this was because she was blackmailing him. Draco moved one hand down her thigh and brought it back up under her skirt. When he touched the edge of her panties Hermione let out a barely audible whimper and Draco smiled.

"Very good Granger." Draco whispered in her ear. "I think that is enough for today."

He let go of Hermione and walked out the door like nothing had happened. Hermione stood there almost out of breath wondering what she had gotten herself into.

--

Draco met up with Blaise in the Slytherin common room and Draco filled him in on the evenings events.

"She actually let you touch her?" Blaise asked with a grin on his face.

"This couldn't have worked better if I had planned it myself. I'll have her in my bed sooner than I thought."

"She still thinks this was all her idea. What makes you think you'll get her to sleep with you?"

"You didn't see the way she was reacting when I was touching her. This will be like taking candy from a baby."

The boys both smirked and went on with their game of Wizard's Chess.

--

TBC…


	4. Am I keeping your attention?

Hermione woke up the next morning with her mind still on Draco and the way he had made her feel. No one had ever made her feel like that before and although she had liked it, she didn't like the fact that it was Draco Malfoy that was making her feel that way. She felt a little better knowing that all this was happening only because she was blackmailing him but deep down her head was telling her to be careful before things went too far. She kept telling herself that she wouldn't let it go too far, but then again, this was Malfoy that she was dealing with. After Hermione took a shower she searched her closet for the day's attire. When she put her clothes on, she remembered what Draco had done to them and she looked in the mirror to see how bad she looked. Her skirt was about three inches shorter and came to her mid thigh. Her shirt had gotten smaller and just barely touched the top of her skirt. She also noticed that it had shrunk a little and her cleavage was showing more now than it did the day before.

"Dammit Malfoy, I look like a hooker!" She swore under her breath. She pointed her wand at herself and tried to fix things, but nothing happened. She cursed Malfoy again and grabbed her school robes and left her room. She saw Malfoy in the common room and she marched over to him.

"My clothes are too small! I look like a hooker!" She barked.

Malfoy smirked and admired his work, "You look perfect. You want to be noticed….this is the way to get it done."

"I never said I wanted to be noticed, I said I didn't want to be boring anymore!"

"Boring people don't get noticed Granger." Draco took his wand out and pointed it at her head.

He said a spell and Hermione gasped, "What did you do?!"

She ran back into her room and looked in the mirror. She had on a very pale blush and matching eye shadow and lipstick. She also had on just enough eyeliner to bring out her eyes. She actually thought she looked good. She came out of her room and Draco had a smug smile on his face.

"Thank you; I actually like it."

"Instead of using magic everyday, get some real makeup."

"Ok."

"Listen, heads _will _turn when you walk in the great hall looking like this. I have this crazy feeling that you are going to blush or try to cover yourself up or something stupid like that; _don't. _Act like it's just another day."

"I'll try."

Hermione grabbed her stuff and headed down for breakfast. Draco knew that she was going to cause a scene when she walked into the Great Hall and he didn't want to miss it. He grabbed his stuff and headed down to watch the show. Hermione got to the entrance of the Great Hall and stopped. Suddenly she was very self-conscious and she went to put her school robes on when a hand stopped her.

"Don't even think about it Granger." Draco grabbed her robes away from her.

"I can't do this." Hermione said.

"Yes, you can. Just take a deep breath and go. And remember; pretend like it's no big deal. "

When she didn't move, Draco glared at her, "Don't make me push you in there."

Hermione returned his glare, took a deep breath and pushed the doors open. She walked in and quickly walked over to her table. She wasn't quick enough however, because in a matter of seconds, everyone was looking at her. She did her best to ignore everyone and she joined her friends at the table. She sat between Ginny and Luna with Ron and Harry across from them.

Ron almost choked on his eggs, "Bloody Hell Hermione, what happened to you?"

Hermione began filling her plate, "What are you talking about Ronald?"

Hermione noticed Ron staring at her cleavage, "You look so…different."

"I know. I left my robes in my room but I am starving so I'll just get them before class."

Harry decided to speak, "I don't think that's what he means Hermione." Harry also couldn't help but "notice" her cleavage.

Ginny had a big smile on her face, "You look excellent Hermione! I knew you had it in you."

Hermione smiled inwardly at the way Ron and Harry were looking at her, but she pretended not to notice, "I don't know what you guys are talking about."

Just then Draco sauntered up to their table and handed Hermione's robes to her, "You left these in my room last night." Draco smirked at Harry and Ron when he saw the murderous looks on their faces.

Hermione wanted so badly to blush and smack Draco but she reminded herself that this was all part of the plan. She gave Draco her best smile and took her robes.

"Thanks."

Draco winked at her and went to join his friends at the Slytherin table.

"He just winked at you. Why did Malfoy just wink at you and why were you in his room last night?" Ron was livid.

"I really don't see how this is any of your business."

"You didn't answer my question Hermione."

Hermione smirked at him, "Jealous?"

Hermione decided that she wasn't hungry anymore, so she got up and left the room, leaving a very stunned Ron, Harry, and Ginny behind.

---

All day long, Hermione kept getting looks from the entire school. Even though she had her robes on now, the image of her at breakfast was still running through everyone's minds. She noticed that all of the guys were talking to her more and giving her more attention. The not-so-popular girls were also talking to her more, trying to get her to sit with them in class. The popular girls glared at her every chance they got. During potions, everyone had been paired up and Hermione was paired with Draco because they were the head students. After Snape had given them their assignment, everyone got to work on their potion.

Hermione kept her eyes on her ingredients when she spoke, "Left my robes in your room huh? You know, I got the third degree after you winked at me."

Draco looked sideways at her, "Third degree?"

"Muggle term; It means they asked me a shit ton of questions."

"Well, you wanted them to think that we are 'getting closer' didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, there you go."

"I know, but I feel kind of bad for lying to my friends."

Draco rolled his eyes, "God Granger; Either you want to go through with this or you don't."

"I do, I do. It's just going to take me a while to adjust."

"Jesus, you really are a goody-goody aren't you?"

Hermione glared at him.

Draco smirked, "Well, your change in wardrobe seems to be doing its intended job; you are getting noticed."

"Boy don't I know it. I'm not used to this much…attention."

"You'll get used to it."

"Can we continue our…lessons after dinner before patrol?"

"I suppose. One thing though…I get weekends off."

Hermione smiled a little, "You make it sound like a job."

"It is a job."

"Well, I'll meet you in the common room at seven thirty."

They finished their potion in silence as Harry and Ron glared at the back of Draco's head.

---

After dinner, Hermione was wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket on the couch and reading one of her favorite books when Draco walked into the room. He watched her as she was totally focused on her book and completely oblivious to him. He got a sneaky smirk on his face and crept up behind the couch and grabbed the book away from her. Hermione squeaked in surprised and stood up and faced him.

"Give it back Malfoy!" She demanded.

"Or what?" Draco asked, dangling the book just out of her reach.

"You need to grow up Malfoy." She barked as she was jumping up trying to grab the book.

"So do you apparently." Malfoy said as he was watching her jump up. Malfoy just kept smiling, holding the book out of her reach. Hermione realized he was enjoying himself way too much and she stopped trying to get the book.

"I don't have time for your stupid games. Keep the damn book; I've read it eight times anyway." She turned on her heel and stomped off.

Right before she got to her room, Hermione stopped, turned around and bolted towards Draco. She caught him off guard and grabbed her book, knocking them both over the back of the couch. She landed on the couch with a thud and Draco landed right on top of her.

She waved her book in front of him, "Ha! Thanks." She smirked.

Her smirked vanished when she realized the position they were in. Hermione had removed her robes and was just wearing her skirt and blouse. Draco slowly ran his hand under her shirt just along the edge of her skirt. Hermione's breath caught in her throat, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't feel like nothing to me." She said, not quite catching her breath.

He ran his hand down her side along the pleated material and stopped as he got to the end of it. He hesitated for a second before running his hand under the skirt along her thigh.

"Ok, I think you should stop." Hermione whispered.

"Do you _want_ me to stop?" Draco asked, locking eyes with her.

"I don't see how this has anything to do with our arrangement."

"It doesn't; I just enjoy doing it." He drew very small circles with his finger along her thigh and Hermione shivered.

"Ok, stop."

"You're right; I should stop and you should be doing this."

"Excuse me?"

"You want people to think that you aren't 'boring,' you have to _prove_ that you aren't 'boring.' Make _me_ shiver." Draco whispered in her ear.

When Hermione didn't move, Draco got up and pulled her up with him, "This brings us to our next lesson. Today, you could have had your pick of any guy in this school. Once you have them interested, you have to _keep_ them interested."

"You mean like having a conversation with them?"

Draco smirked, "No, not a conversation. The last thing that was on their minds today was having a _conversation_ with you."

"I'm not following you."

Draco sighed, "Of course you aren't. Ok, pretend that you were interested in me. You have my attention now; how are you going to keep it?"

Realization dawned on Hermione and what she was supposed to do, but she couldn't think straight.

"This was your idea, Granger. I should have known that you wouldn't be able to stay with it. I guess you are destined to spend your life as a know-it-all virgin bookworm."

Hermione glared at him and pushed him onto the small coffee table that was in front of the couch.

Draco smirked, "I think you may be starting to get the hang…" Hermione shushed him by putting her finger on his lips.

She tried to think of what to do next and she remembered a scene she had seen in a muggle movie. She straddled him and slowly loosened his tie and pulled it off, tossing it to the side. Without breaking eye contact, she slowly unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt and ran her hands under his shirt along his chest and then slowly brought them back up and wrapped them around his neck, pulling herself as close to him as she possibly could while ever so slightly grinding against him. She saw him clench his jaw and bite his lip and she smiled. Inside however, she was starting to panic because she didn't know what to do next. Dammit! If only she actually had experience with this stuff she wouldn't feel like such an idiot right now. Although, if she had experience, she wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. Hermione noticed that Draco was starting to look bored. 'Do something Hermione!' She screamed to herself. Before she even had time to think about it, she kissed him. It surprised the Hell out of both of them, but neither showed it. At first it was just a peck, as she was 'testing the waters.' When he showed no signs of pulling away, she deepened the kiss. She opened her mouth and ran her tongue along his bottom lip ever so lightly. When he opened his mouth to respond, she pulled away.

She leaned over a bit and whispered in his ear, "Am I keeping your attention?"

No sooner had she gotten the words out, Draco grabbed her waist and stood up with her legs still wrapped around him. He dropped her onto the couch and towered above her. He stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke, "It seems that you are learning rather quickly Granger. I'll meet you back here at nine thirty for patrol."

Without another word, he exited the common room and left Hermione alone on the couch to think about what had just happened, "How do I manage to get myself into these situations?"

---

TBC…


	5. What do you see?

Hermione and Ginny were sitting in Hermione's common room pretending to do their homework but they were actually talking about the events of the night. Draco had gone to the Slytherin common room to be with his friends so Hermione and Ginny had the place to themselves.

"What were you thinking asking for that kind of help from Draco Malfoy?" Hermione had told Ginny everything.

"Come on Gin, isn't it obvious? He knows absolutely all there is to know about that subject."

"All the more reason for you to call this whole thing off. With him at the wheel, all Hell can break loose. Besides, if my brother is too damn stupid to see what has always been right in front of him, then it's his loss."

"I didn't do this just because of Ron. I did it because I am tired of people thinking that I am boring. I want to be a new person. However, I think I am going to call it off. I didn't tell you the most important part."

"What's that?"

"I kissed Malfoy." Hermione's face turned red just mentioning it.

Ginny spit out the tea she was drinking, "You what?!"

"We were having a "lesson" and he told me to keep his attention. That's the first thing I thought of. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. It was a really stupid thing to do. The worst part is that I liked kissing him; that's why I am calling this whole thing off. I know that if this keeps going, it'll get way out of hand."

"You kissed Draco Malfoy, Hermione; It's already out of hand."

"I know; that's why I am ending this insanity."

"It might be a little too late for that."

"What do you mean?"

"This is Malfoy we are talking about. He has something up his sleeve. Did you really think that he agreed to this just because you asked him to?"

"I blackmailed him. That's why he agreed to do it."

"Hermione, we both know that Malfoy doesn't do anything that he doesn't want to do; no matter what the circumstances are."

"You really think he's up to something?"

"Yes."

"Well, when I call it all off, he won't have the opportunity to pull anything. Don't worry; it'll all be over soon. As a matter of fact, I've got to get going. It's time to patrol. I'll tell him tonight."

Hermione was patrolling the halls shortly after ten when she heard a noise. She spun around with her wand in hand and saw Draco smirking at her.

She lowered her wand, "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Good; mission accomplished." Draco smiled.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You're late. You were supposed to meet me at 9:30."

"I had other things to do."

"You mean other people?" Hermione asked with a snicker.

Draco grinned, "Jealous Granger?"

"In your dreams Malfoy."

"Just once. It was quite intense actually. Would you care for a reenactment?" He asked as he gently pushed her into the wall.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Come on Granger; I know you want me."

"I want you like I want a hole in my head. Now bugger off." She jabbed her wand into his chest and he backed away.

"Oh come on, don't you want to know how my dream ended?"

"I'll pass, thanks." Hermione said as she continued down the hall.

"You know how I know that it was just a dream?" He walked up behind her and whispered in her ear, "In real life, you would be screaming my name, not just moaning it." He brushed his finger along the nape of her neck and continued walking.

Hermione had to fight off a shiver as his touch still lingered, "Damn you Malfoy." She whispered under her breath.

"What was that?" He asked innocently.

"Nothing, just keep moving."

Hermione was pissed, but Draco was rather pleased with himself. They were quiet for a few minutes, before Hermione finally got the nerve to speak.

"So, I've been thinking about our little arrangement and I think it would be best if we just called the whole thing off. I don't care what Ron and Harry or anyone else thinks of me."

Draco had stopped walking and now he was looking at her with a small smirk on his face, "Are you sure that's the only reason why you want to stop?"

"Sure, why else would I want to?"

"Oh I don't know…maybe because you kissed me?"

"That was all just part of the agreement Malfoy; it meant nothing."

"Then why haven't you looked me in the eyes since it happened?"

Hermione sighed and looked up into his eyes. His smirk had gotten bigger and there was a twinkle in his eyes. "I got a little carried away with the kissing. I shouldn't have done that."

"But you did…why?" His eyes burned into hers.

"I honestly don't know. It just seemed like the next step I guess."

"You guess?"

"I don't know why I kissed you. Whatever the reason was, it was stupid and I shouldn't have done it."

"Ok."

Hermione was kind of surprised by his simple response but she didn't show it, "Ok. So, it's over. I won't tell McGonagall about what I saw. For what you did do, thanks."

Draco nodded at her and continued down the hall.

"Ok? That's all he said?" Ginny was sitting on Hermione's bed after patrol.

"Yea, It was kinda weird."

"As I said before, he is definitely up to something."

"He was probably just happy that he doesn't have to deal with me anymore."

"This is Draco Malfoy we are talking about. Nothing is ever that easy when it comes to him."

"Well, whatever it is, I can handle myself; don't you worry."

The girls smiled and continued with their homework.

Draco was in the Slytherin common room talking to Blaise about the night's events.

"Now that that plan is ruined, what are you going to do?" Blaise handed the bottle of Fire Whisky to Draco.

"My plan is going perfectly. Granger decided to call it all off because she kissed me, which proves that it got to her. I just have to step up my game plan and she'll be in my bed in no time." Draco took a swig of the Fire Whiskey and handed it back to Blaise.

"You seem pretty sure of yourself."

"You weren't there when she kissed me. It was like she had no clue what she was doing, but at the same time it was something that she had wanted to do for so long. I know that she hates me just as much as I hate her, which means that it is strictly the teenage hormones talking." Draco took another swig of the liquor, "Either way, this will be like taking candy from a baby."

After Ginny had left for the night, Hermione settled herself in front of the fireplace to read a book. Shortly after ten, Draco came back. Hermione looked up from her book and her face got flushed. Of course, Draco noticed this immediately. He sauntered up and sat next to her on the couch.

"I don't think it would be such a good idea for you to give up on your little plan?" Draco said casually.

Hermione set her book in her lap, "And why is that?"

"I know you noticed the looks on their faces when Potter and Weasley saw me talking to you this morning. Your little plan seems to be working so far, do you really want to give it all up after you've come this far already?"

Hermione eyed Draco suspiciously for a moment and thought about what Ginny had said earlier about him having a hidden agenda, "You're so eager all of a sudden to keep this going are you? What's in it for you Malfoy?"

Draco didn't even hesitate with his answer, "I told you before, it's almost totally worth it just to watch your little friends react to our interactions."

"That's the only reason why?" Hermione wasn't so sure.

"Hey Granger, if you want things to go back to the way they were, then I won't stop you." Draco got up and started walking to his room.

Hermione put her book aside and stood up, "Ok, we'll continue. So…what else is there to do?"

Draco studied Hermione for a moment before he spoke, "Do you have a full length mirror in your room?"

"Yes…why?"

"Good. Take me to it."

When Hermione just looked at him, Draco rolled his eyes, "Do you want my help or don't you?"

Hermione kept looking at him for a moment before she finally led him to her room. She spoke the password and made a mental note to change it later when Draco wasn't around. She led him though her room to the mirror. Draco noticed that her room fit her very well. Everything was in its place and it was very tidy. Draco took Hermione's hand and pulled her over so she was standing in front of the mirror. Her stood directly behind her.

"What do you see?" Draco asked.

"What do you mean?" Hermione cocked her head to the side as though she were trying to read his mind.

"What do you see when you look at yourself?"

"I see me."

Draco frowned, "I'm serious Granger. When you are getting ready for class or whatever, when you are looking at this mirror, at the reflection in it, what do you see? This girl on the other side; who is she? What do you see?"

Hermione studied her reflection, "I see…just an ordinary girl. What am I supposed to see?"

"You are supposed to see what everyone saw at breakfast this morning. They didn't see just an ordinary girl. But, as long as you see yourself like that, that's all you will ever be. There are four kinds of women Granger; there are the ugly ones who will always be nothing more than ugly women. Then you have the three kinds of beautiful women; women like you who are beautiful but don't know it. You have the beautiful women who know they are beautiful and they show it, but in a tasteful way. Last, you have the beautiful women who know they are and they show it off for all it's worth. These girls are also called sluts."

Hermione smirked at that as Pansy's face popped into her head.

"What you want is to the be the second kind. You need to know that you are beautiful and you have to believe it." At that moment, Draco pulled out his wand, pointed it at Hermione and whispered a spell. It took Hermione two seconds to realize that Draco had made her clothes disappear. She was now standing in front of the mirror…and Draco in her knickers. She had on just a plain black bra and matching panties. Hermione gasped and tried to cover herself with her hands but Draco grabbed her arms and gently but firmly held them down to her sides.

"Relax Granger. You have nothing that I haven't seen before."

"Let me go Malfoy."

"I'm not going to hurt you; just relax." He loosened his grip on her arms but didn't completely let her go.

"Relax? I am standing here if front of you practically naked!" Hermione spat.

"You are far from naked Granger. All your important parts are covered up, so stop sniveling."

Hermione glared at Draco though the mirror but relaxed her arms and stopped trying to cover herself. She felt like punching Draco as she watched his steely eyes roam over her body.

"Please tell me how this has anything to do with our task at hand because I am dieing to know." Hermione barked.

"What do you see when you look at yourself in the mirror Granger?"

"What do you mean what do I see? I see me."

Draco rolled his eyes, "When you look at yourself, what do you see? What do you see when you look at your body? Do you love the way your body looks or do you think there is room for improvement?"

Hermione studied herself for a moment before she answered, "My second toe is longer than my first toe on both feet; my legs are grossly pale; my hips are huge, but I am too skinny; I swear my left arm is longer than my right; my breasts are too small and pointed; my neck is too long, my hair is still too frizzy, and my nose is too big."

Draco's face never revealed what he was thinking. He was amazed that she thought so little of herself.

"Close your eyes." Draco slowly put his hands on her shoulders.

"What?" Hermione looked slightly terrified at his command.

This did not go unnoticed by Draco, "For the last time, would you relax? I am not going to hurt you. Give me a little credit Granger. Now, close your eyes…please?"

Hermione reluctantly closed her eyes.

Draco bent down and whispered in her ear, "Keep 'em closed."

Hermione fought back a shiver that tried to escape when Draco's breath tickled her ear, "No funny business Malfoy."

Draco rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't dream of it."

He could feel the tension in Hermione's shoulders and he gently rubbed them, "No normal person is this tense."

"Believe me, it's gotten a lot worse since we this started these…lessons."

"Shh; no talking Granger." This time Hermione couldn't stop the shiver from escaping as she felt Draco's lips touch her ear.

Draco ran his hands down Hermione's arms and linked his fingers with hers. He then pulled her hands up with his as he slowly brought them to her breasts. Careful to not touch her with his own hands, he guided her hands over her breasts and Hermione's breath got very shallow and slow.

"Your breasts are perfect and round, not pointed." He guided her hands down and across her stomach, "You are not too skinny; you have an athletic body with toned abs and a flat stomach. You are only too skinny when you can see and feel your ribs. Your skin is soft and golden, not pale." He continued to guide her hands down to her stomach and then moved her hands apart and skimmed them across the top of her panties as he brought them back down to her sides.

"Open your eyes." Draco whispered.

Hermione realized that she had stopped breathing. She took a breath and opened her eyes slowly. To say the very least, Hermione was flustered but she did her best to hide it.

"Now what do you see when you look in the mirror?" Draco's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Drake!" A voice drifted up from the common room.

Draco and Hermione both jumped at the voice; Draco stepped away from her, "Your homework is to keep looking in the mirror until you see what everyone else sees."

Draco grabbed his wand and disappeared through her door. He headed downstairs and saw Blaise lounging on the couch. A huge grin spread across Blaise's face when he saw where Draco had come from.

"Damn boy, did you seal the deal already?"

"No." That was all Draco said.

Blaise hurried to keep up with Draco and he left the common room.

Hermione stared at her reflection completely dumbfounded. Never in her life had she felt the way she did just now with Draco.

A small knock on her door made Hermione jump, "Just a minute!"

Hermione quickly put her clothes back on and tried her best to not look as disheveled as she felt. She opened her door and was surprised when she saw no one. She heard a small squeak and looked down to see a very small House Elf looking up at her with big eyes.

"Squeaky is sorry to bother the Head Girl."

Hermione smiled at the Elf's name; it fit her well, "That's alright Squeaky; what can I do for you?"

"The Head Master has asked Squeaky to tell you and the Head Boy that he wishes to speak with you in his office after dinner tonight."

"Ok; have you told Malfoy already?"

Squeaky looked pained as she spoke, "Yes, Squeaky found him outside your common room."

"Was he mean to you?" Hermione asked.

"No more than most people miss." Squeaky frowned.

"Well I am sorry for his behavior. Please tell the Head Master that we got his message and we'll see him after dinner." Hermione smiled at the small creature.

Squeaky returned Hermione's smile, "Yes, miss; I will tell him right away!"

Squeaky bolted down the stairs and out of sight.

Hermione sat on her bed and tried to push Draco out of her mind for the moment while she tried to figure out what Dumbledore might want to speak to them about.

---

TBC…


	6. So vivid

Blaise and Draco were sitting in Draco's room and Draco wasn't talking so Blaise took matters into his own hands, "So, what were you doing in Granger's room?"

"Copping a feel." Draco stated.

"That's it?"

"The girl is so deluded about her own appearance; it's really quite sad. I was simply helping her to realize her full potential."

Blaise smirked, "Is that what you call it?"

"When she realizes that there isn't much more to do on her little path to self-discovery, she'll end our agreement. I have to step up my game if I am going to have a shot in Hell at getting her into my bed."

"What did you have in mind?" Blaise asked.

"A dream. She may be smart, but not smart enough to catch me sneaking in through her dreams. If she has a dream or two about me, it will soften her up before I move in for the kill."

"Not bad. How you gonna do it?"

Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vile filled with a light blue liquid, "This potion will take care of everything. I drink half of it and give the rest of it to her. It will let my mind into her dream and I will have the power to control every aspect of it; every word and every action will be my choice. To Granger, it will be nothing more than a dream…a very vivid dream."

Blaise eyed the mixture, "How do you plan on getting her to drink it?"

"I just have to slip it into her drink at dinner tomorrow."

"And how do you plan on doing that? She's not going to let you anywhere near her with a potion."

"I won't be the one doing it." Draco said as he twirled the vile around in his fingers.

---

Hermione had Draco on her mind all day the next day. She had spent almost thirty minutes staring at herself in the mirror that morning. She had touched just about every part of her body as she was desperately trying to see what Malfoy had been talking about. After about fifteen minutes, she grabbed her bra and pointed her wand at it, whispering a spell.

When she put it on, she smiled, "Instant wonder bra."

She put on the rest of her uniform with a baby blue shirt and then she put on the makeup that Ginny had given her and had also shown her how to apply. She pointed her wand at her head and said a spell to make her hair wavy. She pulled back part of it with a clip. As the last touch, she put on a heart necklace and matching earrings and stood back to assess her work. She pointed her wand at her reflection and muttered something and her mirror self came to life and grinned at her.

"Tell me the truth Granger, how do I look?" Hermione asked.

Mirror Hermione smirked at her, "I'd fuck you."

Hermione rolled her eyes and pointed her wand at her reflection again and it was still.

She grabbed her bag and draped her robes over one of the straps as she had seen people do and hoisted it onto her shoulder. She took a deep breath and left her room.

She was outside the common room and she hesitated, "Get it together Granger; believe in yourself."

She shook off the nervousness and headed towards the Great Hall. By the time she got there, she had relaxed a bit and had a confident look about her. When she walked in, she immediately spotted Draco talking to Blaise and some other Slytherins. Their eyes locked and Hermione winked at him as she headed toward the Gryffindors.

On the Slytherin side, Draco and Blaise were watching Hermione, "Damn Drake, if you aren't going to seal the deal anytime soon, do you mind if I do?"

Draco smiled, "I knew she had it in her, it was only a matter of time before she knew it too."

Hermione sat next to Ginny across from Ron and Harry. She noticed most of the boys looking at her more than usual, Ron noticed this too and he glared at them.

Ginny smiled at Hermione, "I love your hair!"

"Thanks." Hermione managed not to blush this time.

Harry smiled affectionately at Hermione, "You look great."

Hermione returned his smile and noticed that Ron's face was rather red, "What's with you?"

"Nothing." Ron dug his face deeper into his breakfast.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and ate her breakfast.

All day long, Draco had spent most of the day watching Hermione, (along with most of the other boys) and trying to decide how to get the potion into her drink without her suspecting anything.

When dinner came around, neither Draco or Blaise wanted to eat; they were too busy watching the first year that they had "recruited" for their plan. Draco spotted the tiny boy walking to the Great Hall and he and Blaise pulled the kid into an empty classroom and proceeded to threaten him if he didn't help them. Little Benjamin agreed to it simply because he wanted to live. Draco drank half of the potion and then gave the rest of it to Ben with strict orders on what to do. About five minutes into the meal, Benjamin reached for a roll and "accidentally" knocked over Hermione's glass of pumpkin juice.

"Oh, I'm sorry Hermione!" He said.

Hermione smiled, "It's ok Ben. It was just an accident."

Ben grabbed his glass that had been mixed with the potion and handed it to Hermione, "Here, take my glass."

Hermione smiled, "No, it's ok. I'm fine."

Ben frowned and Hermione took the glass. He continued frowning, so Hermione took a drink, "Thank you Ben."

Ben smiled weakly and looked over at the Slytherin table to Draco and Blaise who were smiling wickedly.

"Sweet dreams Granger." Draco sneered.

Hermione took another sip of her drink and set it back down, completely oblivious to what was happening.

Harry and Ron had been silent through most of dinner and Hermione knew that she had held her grudge long enough, "Ok, if I forgive you guys for your stupidity, will you stop sulking?"

Harry and Ron both looked at Hermione and grinned, "Yes!" They said together.

Hermione smiled, "Ok, I forgive you for your stupidity."

Harry put his fork down, "We were wrong Hermione. You are not boring; you are intelligent and sweet. You have a big heart and you _are_ beautiful."

Ron smiled, "Your new makeover helped with that." Ron's face went red, "I mean, you have always been attractive, it was just more…subtle until now."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I know what you mean and thank you…both. It means a lot to me that you guys think all those things."

Ginny glared at her brother and boyfriend, "You guys really are stupid….you have no idea what you've put Hermione through! She's made a deal with…" Hermione smashed Ginny's foot and she yelped, "Never mind."

Harry and Ron exchanged confused looks and returned their concentrations to their dinner.

Ginny glared at Hermione, "Ow; that hurt!"

"Were you actually going to tell them about Malfoy?!" Hermione whispered viciously.

Ginny met her whisper, "I wasn't thinking; sorry!"

"Well, it's done for good. Things are getting out of hand."

"What are you talking about?"

"I…"

Ginny gasped, "You have a thing for Malfoy!"

Hermione stomped on Ginny's foot again, "SHH! No, I don't! It's just getting too…heated between us. I mean, I know he's only doing this because I am making him, but it doesn't change the fact that I am a teenage girl and he is nauseatingly gorgeous. After dinner I am going to ends things…for good this time."

"That's what you said last time."

Hermione glared at Ginny.

Harry turned his attention to the girls, "What are you two whispering about?"

"Girl stuff." Ginny said.

Harry made a face like he had just sucked on a lemon, "Speaking of girl stuff and hormones…what's with you and Malfoy?"

Hermione and Ginny exchanged knowing glances, "What are you talking about Harry?" Hermione gave him an annoyed look.

"Well, Ron may have never noticed but your transformation coincided with Malfoy suddenly taking an interest in you."

Ginny laughed, "I think that's the point Harry. She _wants _guys to notice her…even guys like Malfoy."

"Relax Harry," Hermione interrupted, "Nothing is going on with me and Malfoy; I'm not that stupid."

Ginny grinned at Hemione's words but kept her mouth shut. Maybe Hermione couldn't see it yet, but Ginny knew better; Sooner or later, Hermione was going to be head over heels for a certain bad boy.

---

After dinner, Hermione was walking to Dumbledore's office when she heard footsteps behind her, "Do you really have to sneak around Malfoy?" She hissed

Draco fell in step with her, "It's more fun."

"Maybe for you."

"That's the point Granger, I thought you were supposed to be smart." Draco smirked.

"Speaking of smart and what isn't…it's over; for good this time. The lessons that you've been giving me have really helped, but I think it would be best if we stopped."

"Why is that?"

Hermione wasn't about to tell Draco the truth as to why she wanted to stop; his ego was already too big, "Well, what more is there for me to learn? Besides, Harry and Ron have been on my case about what's going on between us and I am really getting tired of having to explain myself."

"That's why you want to stop…because Potter and Weasel keeping bugging you?"

"That's not the only reason."

"I know why you want to stop."

"Oh really? Please enlighten me."

"I haven't forgotten about that little kiss."

"That was part of our lessons Malfoy…nothing more."

"You're falling for me."

Hermione laughed out loud, "You are seriously deluded Malfoy."

Draco abruptly stopped walking and grabbed Hermione's arm to stop her also. He backed her into the wall and stood towering above her but didn't say a word. He just stared her down, daring her to look away. The fact that they were sharing air at such a close proximity had Hermione concentrating on keeping her breathing as normal as possible. She couldn't let Draco know that he was right…sort of. She wasn't falling for him emotionally; but falling for him physically, well that was another story. She looked up at him defiantly, waiting for him to do what he was going to do; kiss her, hit her, laugh in her face, whatever. She just wanted him to get on with it already. Draco continued to stare at her for a minute, then he simply backed off and continued walking towards Dumbledore's office.

"Ok, if you think I've taught you all I can, then I guess there is no reason to continue. Although you did end it once before and then you had a change of heart." Draco said.

Hermione stayed against the wall for a minute, not sure what had just happened. She heard Draco's voice and she snapped out of it and followed him down the hall, "Yes, but there was more for me to…learn. I think I have learned all I can this time."

"Suit yourself; it gets me off the hook anyway."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I knew you'd see it my way."

They stopped walking when they came to the door leading to Dumbledore's office.

"Peppermint Twizzies" Hermione said.

The portrait swung open and the two went inside. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk with a pleasant smile on his.

"Good evening." Dumbledore motioned for Draco and Hermione to sit down.

They returned his greeting at took their seats across from him.

"I have asked you here to inform you that we will be having a Christmas dance. I have discussed it with the rest of the faculty and we all agreed that you students deserve this. This dance is going to be for fifth years and up; the younger years will be getting an extra trip to Hogsmeade. I'm telling you both before I announce it to the school because I would like you two to plan it."

Hermione and Draco exchanged a look.

"It should be relatively easy but if you have any problems or concerns, feel free to come to me. The dance will be on December fourteenth; that should give you plenty of time to get everything in order. Are there any questions?"

"Can we use magic for the decorations?" Hermione asked.

"You can use magic to help you, but try to do as much as you can by yourselves. Anything else?"

The students shook their heads.

"Alright then; have a good night." Dumbledore smiled.

Draco and Hermione left his office and Draco swore, "What the bloody Hell do I know about planning a dance?!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "It can't be that difficult Malfoy; find a band, get the food, make some decorations. Dumbledore said we could use magic to help."

"Fine, then you can handle it."

Hermione scoffed, "Oh no you don't Malfoy; you are not sticking me with all the work. We are going to meet every Thursday night until this damn dance is planned!"

Draco smirked, "You just can't get enough of me can you?"

Hermione actually snorted, "Do you ever get tired of being so full of yourself?"

"Would you rather be full of me?" Draco smiled at his own joke.

It took a minute for Hermione to catch on and then she wrinkled her nose, "Ugh; you are disgusting."

"I thought is was rather clever."

"Yes, I suppose you would; goodnight Malfoy."

---

The heat woke Hermione and she sat up in her bed at looked at her clock; it was two A.M. She could feel the sweat on her body so she got out of bed and decided to go to the common room to cool off because there was more air. She got downstairs and opened the first window she found. She stuck her head out and took a deep breath, feeling better instantly. She felt a breeze and stuck her head out a little further.

"Planning on jumping?" The familiar drawl came from behind.

Hermione stifled back a scream and spun around to find Draco with his usual smirk plastered to his face.

"What the Hell are you doing sneaking up on me!?" She whispered furiously.

Draco sat on the edge of a chair, "I was here first Granger. I was doing some last minute homework because I couldn't sleep. You came storming down the stairs and practically threw yourself out the window. Maybe I should have stayed quiet…looked like you were about to jump."

Hermione glared at him, "It was too stuffy upstairs. I needed some air; that's all. Why are you doing homework at two o' clock on a Friday night?"

"So I won't have to work on it this weekend. I can leave my schedule open for more…stimulating activity."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I don't want to know." She was trying really hard to ignore the fact that Draco was only wearing a pair of dark green sweat pants. As much as she hated to, she had to admit that he was definitely easy on the eyes. She shook her head and looked away.

Draco smiled, "You seem to be living up to your new makeover." He said as he checked out her sleeping attire.

Hermione was sporting a dark red tank top with matching shorts that barely went to her mid thighs. Hermione put her hands on her hips and glared at Draco, "Well it was either this or I sleep naked. Thanks to you I no longer have any modest clothes."

"Don't tell me you don't _love _the attention you've been getting." Draco got up from the chair and started walking towards her.

Hermione laughed softly, "It's definitely different."

"So you don't like it?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then what _are _you saying?"

"I'm just not used to the attention; it'll take some time to get used to it."

Draco was now standing directly in front of her, "You didn't answer my original question."

Hermione glared at him for a second, "Ok, fine; of course I like the attention. What girl in her right mind wouldn't?"

"There is hope for you yet Granger."

Draco stopped a foot or so in front of her, "You know, there was one key thing that we never covered in our lessons."

"Oh yea; what's that?"

"Kissing."

Hermione froze.

"Am I wrong?" Draco asked.

"No…kissing is important. I just don't think it's a very good idea."

Draco smirked, "Why is that?"

"It's two in the morning."

"And?"

When Hermione didn't respond, Draco smiled, "Are you sure it's not because you have a thing for me?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "There you go again, being full of yourself."

"Well if that's the case, then kissing me shouldn't bother you. I can assure you Granger, you could be the hottest girl alive but if you can't kiss worth a damn, boys won't look at you twice."

Hermione sighed; he had a point; "Well, I kissed you the other day."

"For like two seconds; and it wasn't very good."

Hermione glared at Draco, "Fine, but it's just another lesson."

Draco smiled, "Absolutely."

Hermione hesitantly closed the gap between them, "So, do I just kiss you and you tell me if it was good, or what?"

Draco grinned, "You honestly have no idea what you are doing do you?"

Hermione glared at Draco and turned to leave so her grabbed her arm and pulled her into him, connecting his lips with hers. He kissed her once, lightly and softly.

"Prove to me that you know what you're doing." He murmured against her lips.

The truth was, Hermione had no idea what she was doing, but she couldn't let Draco know that. So, she closed her eyes and kissed him. Once, twice, timidly; Hermione could actually feel the bordem in Draco's response. Half of Hermione's inner voice was screaming for her to just go for it and the other half was screaming for her to stop. The half screaming 'Go for it' won out and Hermione deepened the kiss. She ever so slightly grazed her tongue over his lower lip and he very slowly opened his mouth like he was daring her. She slipped her tongue in and found his and they immediately started fighting for dominance. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and his hands came to rest under her shirt, just above her ass. Hermione could feel his skin burning into hers and a very small moan escaped the back of her throat. They were standing next to the table that had a small clutter of books and parchments on it; Draco backed her up until the back of her knees hit the table. He reached behind her and shoved everything onto the floor and lifted her up and sat her on the table as far back as he could and he climbed up there with her, never once breaking lip contact. Hermione gasped when she felt the cold table against her back. Draco's hand slid down her stomach and he dipped his hand into her shorts and over her panties….

Hermione bolted upright out of bed and looked around wildly for a second before she realized where she was. She was breathing hard and fast and she had to tell herself to calm down. Hermione could feel her clothes sticking to her skin from sweating so she got up and changed into clean pajamas. Hermione plopped down onto her bed again.

"What the _Hell_ was that?" The images of her dream were running through her mind and she could feel her skin heating up.

"Ugh, I need to take a walk or something to calm down."

Hermione grabbed her robe and put it on as she left her room. She was half way down the stairs when she saw a light on in the common room. She stopped dead and peered down to see if Draco was there. Sure enough, Draco was sprawled out on the chair by the bookcase with a book in his lap. She looked closer and noticed that he was completely zonked out. He wasn't wearing a shirt, just green pajama bottoms and instantly the dream started flooding Hermione's mind again. She shivered and decided against taking a walk. She went back up to her room and shut the door. Downstairs, Draco opened his eyes when he heard Hermione shut her door. He was beyond pleased with himself for the way the dream had turned out. He had decided to end the dream there because there wasn't much more that could have happened before they had reached the point of no return; not to mention that Draco was getting closer and closer every second to dragging Hermione out of bed and making her dream a reality. She had no idea what effect she really had on men and Draco was finally starting to see it. He couldn't wait to see how Hermione would act towards him the next day, but he knew it would be interesting.

Draco got up and put the book away before heading to the bathroom. He knew that if there was any way at all that he was going to sleep that night, he needed to take a very cold shower.

---

TBC….

Wow, thanks so much for all the great reviews!

I am not sure where I am going to start the next chapter, so once I figure that out, I'll get started! Hopefully you guys won't have to wait too long….

:)


	7. You are done for my friend

AN: Words in italics are flashbacks…

Draco's plan was failing miserably and he was _not _happy about it. It had been almost two months since Draco had invaded Hermione's dreams and she had been very standoffish ever since. He could remember the day after his dream invasion like it was yesterday.

Draco was in the common room reading because he hadn't been able to get to sleep and he smiled when he heard Hermione come out of her room. He put the book down and prepared himself for what was to come; Hermione hexing him because she realized that he had been behind her dream, Hermione jumping on him and ravaging him because the dream had actually done what he had intended, or even Hermione blushing furiously would have suited him. Draco was not prepared, however, for what actually happened. When Hermione saw him when she got downstairs, she ignored him like he wasn't even there. She wasn't even blushing! She walked right past Draco and out the door without glancing at him once. Draco stood there with a stupid expression on his face as though he had no idea what had just happened.

After Hermione had left the common room, Draco had decided that there was only one reason why her dream hadn't gotten to her; she fancied girls. That was the only explanation; why else was she able to resist him after all of that? Every Thursday night they met up to work on planning the dance and they did their head duties together, but other than that Hermione avoided Draco like the plague. He had even tried invading her dreams a couple more times but every time Hermione was more distant than she had been the last time; Draco was a little pissed off to say the least. He couldn't figure out what had gone wrong and why Hermione seemed so desperate to avoid him. After the second time he had invaded Hermione's dream with no success in moving forward with his plan, Blaise had been the one to try and explain it to him.

"She knows that getting involved with you would be a very bad idea and the more you tempt her, the harder she tries to resist. Why do you think she's been avoiding you? Out of sight, out of mind."

"_She's avoiding me because she wants me? That's stupid." Draco looked at Blaise like he was nuts._

"_She doesn't jump into things head first like you do. She is more sensible about it; she weighs all the pros and cons and you my friend are full of cons." _

That conversation had run through Draco's mind at least a dozen times a week as he was trying to figure out what to do to get the ball back in his court. Every day Draco had to see Hermione in all her makeover glory and watch her flirting with all the guys and notice how good she was getting at it. She was supposed to be flirting with him and focusing all of her attention on him dammit! Draco was driving himself crazy thinking about her every waking minute of his day and he was about to snap. It finally happened on Thursday morning when Draco walked into the dining hall for breakfast and he saw Granger playing tonsil hockey with Dean Thomas. If Draco had been a teapot, steam would have been coming out his ears. He stormed over to his table and sat down, pounding his fists onto the table making those around him jump.

Blaise was sitting across from him and he smirked, "So you've seen."

"When the fuck did that happen?" Draco spat.

"I heard the Patils talking to Brown in Herbology; apparently it's been in the works for a couple of weeks but it became official yesterday, Thomas asked her to the dance."

Draco picked up a fork and bent it as much as he could before slamming it back down onto the table, "That's it; play time is over. I did not go through all those damn _lessons _just to lose her to Thomas!" Draco hissed the word lessons as though he despised it. "This is MY bet and I WILL win it!" Draco got up and stormed out of the dining hall.

During Potions class, Draco did his best to keep his cool as he talked to Hermione, "So you and Thomas huh? I see that our little schooling has paid off."

Hermione didn't look up from her notes, "Yes they have; thank you."

Hermione was acting very blasé about the whole thing and Draco was getting pissed. Snape explained the day's lesson and had everyone collect their ingredients and gave them thirty minutes to complete the potion. Draco had made sure to pick a table in the back of the class so that no one would see them unless they turned around. Hermione was adding some of the ingredients when Draco came up behind her. He put his hand on her shoulder and ran it down her arm causing Hermione to drop the stick she was stirring the potion with.

She batted his hand away, "What are you doing!?" she hissed.

"What's the matter? You used to like the attention I gave you." Draco whispered in her ear, tickling it with his breath. Hermione spun around and was face to face with her assailant.

"Have you gone completely mad? We are in the middle of class!"

Hermione noticed her voice was a bit too high when she saw a classmate at the next table giving her a funny look. She pushed Draco to his side of the table just as Snape was walking towards them.

"What is going on here Ms. Granger?" Snape drawled.

"Nothing Sir, Malfoy and I were just having an argument about which ingredient goes in next."

Snape looked at her expectantly, "Well then, which one is it?"

"Oh!" Hermione grabbed a feather from a hippogriff and dropped it in.

"That's not right." Just as Draco finished his statement, the potion started smoking and bubbling out of control and just as it turned black, it exploded all over Draco's and Hermione's clothes, as well as Snape's face. The entire class broke into hysterical laughter while Snape just glared at the head students.

"Detention tonight in my classroom after dinner." Snape walked out of the room to get cleaned up.

Hermione was scrubbing out cauldrons with a killer look on her face.

"You are going to pay for this ferret! I could be spending this time doing my homework, but instead I am here scrubbing grime out of these…pots, and it's all because of you!"

Draco was scrubbing the stirring sticks, "It's your fault that the potion blew up in Snape's face!"

"I couldn't concentrate! You couldn't keep your hands to yourself and I was distracted! You think that you can just do anything you want whenever you want without any consequences; well not this time buster and it serves you right!"

Draco was scrubbing the sticks so hard they were starting to crack, "Shut up woman!"

"Woman!? Woman!?" She threw down her cauldron, grabbed one of the sticks and marched up to him and stabbed him in the chest with it, "Don't you…"

Draco grabbed the stick, broke it and tossed it across the room, "Don't what?"

Before she knew it, Hermione was trapped between Draco and Snape's desk, "Don't call me woman." She didn't sound very confident anymore when she realized the position she was in.

"Or what?" Draco began pushing stuff off of the desk.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking what I want; what you want."

"I don't want anything from you."

Draco grabbed Hermione's waist and lifted her onto the desk.

"Stop it, this instant!" Hermione's voice rose an octave.

"Did you really think that you could just ignore me for the rest of the year? I did not use one of the best potions I've found so far on you just so you could ignore me."

Hermione gave him a perplexed look and Draco smiled, "Had any good dreams about me lately?"

Realization dawned on her and she gasped, "You made me have those dreams!"

"They worked didn't they? Why else would you be ignoring me all the time? Every time you see me those dreams come flooding back into your head and you are afraid that one day you'll have an overwhelming desire to jump me and you won't be able to control yourself; and that's why you stay as far away from me as you can."

Hermione snorted very indignantly, "Keep dreaming Malfoy. I stay away from you because I've never wanted to be around you. There was a time when you never wanted to me around me either, remember that? You taught me things and I'm grateful to you for that and in return I kept your secret about cheating."

"Is that a fact?" Draco asked. He gently pushed her down onto the desk and was now towering above her.

She could feel his hot breath on her skin as he began playing with the buttons on her shirt, "Don't tell me you don't want this. I know you remember the first time you kissed me as vividly as you do; you want me so bad you can't stand it."

"Don't flatter yourself!" Hermione screeched as she tried to push him off.

She was a lot more stubborn than he gave her credit for and he knew that he was going to have to do something drastic, so he kissed her. All of the events of the past few months were poured into that kiss; all the anger, jealousy, and confusion that Draco had been feeling. The power in that kiss started at Hermione's toes and went though her entire body, searing all her nerves. She knew that there was no way she was going to be able to resist him now, so she returned his kiss; also putting into it all the frustration that she had been feeling because of Draco. Draco had had his hands on the desk on either side of Hermione in case she had tried to get away. Now that he was sure she had no intention of leaving, he moved his hands from the desk to her body. He put one hand behind he head to give himself better access to her mouth and he put his other hand on her thigh causing Hermione to gasp at the contact. He ran his hand up her thigh under her skirt and grazed her panties with his finger. Hermione moaned at the intimate contact, well intimate for her anyway. Draco ran his finger along her stomach, touching the very tip of her panties and he very slowly dipped his finger under them and like a bucket of cold water being thrown onto her face, Hermione came out of her haze. She used all the strength she had and pushed Draco off of her. She scrambled off the desk, grabbed her things and ran out of the classroom, right past Blaise who had seen the whole thing. Blaise smiled at the disheveled and slightly surprised look on Draco's face who was still sitting on the teacher's desk.

"Excellent form mate." Blaise said as he sat down in a desk at the front row.

Draco collected himself and glared at his best friend, "What are you doing here?"

"I was patrolling when I heard…noises coming from this room. I guess congratulations are in order."

"For what?"

Blaise smiled, "Just as I thought. You've forgotten all about why you originally set out to seduce the lovely bookworm haven't you?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about Blaise." Draco was getting annoyed.

"Of course you don't. You've fallen for this girl haven't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

Draco got off the desk, "Fallen for Granger? Don't be absurd!"

"You just called her Granger; you've never called her that around me. It's always been Mudblood."

"Are you drunk?"

Blaise got up from the desk and patted his friend on the back, "You are done for my friend."

Blaise left Draco in the classroom to think about what had really just happened.

End of Chapter 7


	8. How did any of this even happen?

Hermione waited until she was safely in her room before she replayed the events of the evening in her mind. There was no way that any of that had just happened; there was no way that she had just made out with Draco Malfoy on Snape's desk! Never in her life had she ever felt the way she did when she was snogging Malfoy into oblivion. All the memories from the dreams he had given her came flooding back to her and she suddenly had a very violent hot flash. She stripped off her uniform and put on some cotton shorts and a t-shirt before opening her window to let some air in. She sat on her bed and tried to remember everything he had said to her in Snape's room. He had told her he was taking what he wanted; what _he_ wanted. Draco wanted her? Hermione got off her bed and started pacing around her room.

This was all wrong; he wasn't supposed to want her. He was supposed to help her teach Ron and Harry a lesson and then just go back to his life of hating her and calling her names. He told her he was taking what _she _wanted; that wasn't right either, was it? She was seventeen years old; it was only natural for a girl her age to get all hot and bothered by a guy like Draco Malfoy. But that was just it; he was Draco Malfoy. She had hated his guts since she was eleven and he had felt the same about her. There was no way that she was….falling for him. When those last three words entered her mind, Hermione audibly gasped. She had never thought that before this night and now the words were screaming at her. Hermione took off her shorts and put on a pair of jeans; she couldn't figure this out alone. She knew that the only one she could talk to was Ginny. Hermione stuck her head out her door and listened for any signs that Draco had come back. When everything stayed quiet she went downstairs and out the front door in search of her best girlfriend.

Draco knew Hermione would be hiding from him so he wasn't at all surprised when the common room was empty. He went straight to his room and threw himself onto his bed. It was official; he had gone off his bloody rocker; He had basically told Hermione that he had a thing for her. His original plan had been to seduce her and then just drop her; it sounded simple enough. He was in way over his head and he had no bloody idea what to do about it. This was Hermione Granger; the smartest witch he had ever known in every possible way. There was no way that she would ever fall for any of his crap. He had told her he was taking what he wanted. He really hoped that she had forgotten all about that statement; the less she figured out about his…feelings the better. Draco knew that he wasn't going to be able to figure out all this stuff by himself because his mind was all jumbled up and it was making him crazy. No girl had _ever _jumbled up his mind before! Draco got off his bed and stuck his head out the door to make sure it was clear. When he saw no signs of life, he headed out the door and to the Slytherin Common Room.

When Hermione walked into the common room, she immediately spotter her red haired friend sitting on a couch with Ron and Harry. She walked right up to them and grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her up.

She gave an apologetic smile to her friends, "Sorry guys, I have to borrow Ginny for a moment. We'll be back in a bit."

She pulled Ginny towards the stairs to the girls dorm before anyone could protest. Thankfully, when the got upstairs Hermione saw that the room was empty. She kept a hold of Ginny's hand and plopped them both down on Ginny's bed. When Hermione let go of her hand, Ginny slowly massaged it while she gave Hermione a look that said she was totally bonkers.

"What is going on?"

"Something really bad happened tonight."

Ginny forgot about her sore hand, "What?"

Hermione wanted to start from the beginning and tell Ginny everything that had happened but it came out before she could stop herself, "I made out with Malfoy."

Hermione noticed that Ginny did not look surprised, "In detention?"

"Yes. How come you seem so not surprised?"

"Because I'm not. I told you this would happen Hermione. He's Draco Malfoy and you were playing a very dangerous game with him."

"You aren't helping Ginny." Hermione frowned.

Ginny smiled, "I'm sorry Hermione, but you know I'm right."

Hermione just looked at Ginny for a minute, "Yea, I know."

"Well, tell me what happened exactly."

Hermione told Ginny the whole story starting with how Draco had managed to get them both into detention and ending with Blaise walking in on them in Snape's room. When she was done, she noticed that Ginny's face was flushed.

"Damn girl; you _are_ in trouble."

"I am in way over my head here. This is no what I wanted to accomplish! I was just trying to make a point!"

"Well, I think you did that…and then some."

"What am I going to do?"

"My advice is to get out of this before it's too late. Stop now before you are in so deep you can't get out."

"Draco Malfoy has…a thing for me. That just doesn't make any sense."

Ginny laughed, "For such a smart witch, you can be pretty dense sometimes. You are the ultimate prize Hermione. You are the smartest witch in this school, you're beautiful, you're popular, and you are best friends with Harry 'The Boy Who Lived' Potter. Even before your little makeover, you were still very much wanted. You were just never interested in any of that stuff before so nobody really paid attention. When you came out of your shell you had _everyone's _attention and did the worst thing possible; you gave all _your _attention to Draco Malfoy."

Hermione started crying softly, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen!"

Ginny hugged her friend, "I know you didn't; It's ok. But you really do need to put a stop to all of this now."

"I will. I'll just tell Draco that things have gone too far and we need to just keep our distance from each other."

"You called him Draco; this is more serious than I thought."

The girls both smiled and Hermione wiped away her tears. Ginny patted her knew and looked towards the door, "We better get back down there. I bet the boys are chomping at the bit to know what we are talking about."

Ginny took Hermione's hand and they went to join the rest of their friends.

The Slytherin common room was pretty much deserted except for a few second years playing Chess and Blaise who was reading in the corner by the fire. Draco went over to the Chess game and took the Kings. The kids looked up at Draco and he nodded his head towards the boy's dorm. Without a word, the boys took off towards their dorm.

Blaise looked up from his book and grinned when he saw Draco, "Having a good night?"

Draco grabbed a bottle of Firewhisky from his old hiding spot in a bookshelf and took a big swig as he sat in a chair next to Blaise.

"I am so fucked; and _not _in a good way."

"You're falling for her aren't you?"

"No."

"You answered that question a little too quickly my friend."

Draco groaned and took another swig of the alcohol, "How could my plan have backfired so badly?"

"You seriously don't know? I could have told you this would happen. Granger is seriously hot fire and it was only a matter of time before you got burned."

"I can't get involved with this woman; _nothing _good would come from it. Can you imagine what my father would do to me if he found out that I was shagging a muggleborn?"

"Shagging? Does that mean that…"

"No. That hasn't happened…yet. It would be so easy for me to just give in; but it's all wrong. There was never supposed to be any emotional involvement!"

"So what are you going to do about it?"

Draco took one more swig and then returned the bottle to it's hiding place, "I'm going to put a stop to it; right now."

Blaise stood up and shook Draco's hand, "Good luck with that mate."

Draco glared at his best friend before leaving. Blaise just shook his head and went back to his book.

Hermione was thinking so hard that when she rounded the corner towards her dorm she didn't even notice Draco also rounding the corner and she ran right into him, knocking herself to the ground. She looked up to bark at her assailant but instead turned beet red when she saw Draco staring down at her. He immediately held his hand out to her but she hesitated for a moment before accepting it. They could both feel the electricity flow through them when they touched. Draco quickly pulled her up and then released her.

"Sorry."

Hermione just stared at him for a moment, "It's ok; I wasn't watching where I was going.

Draco said the password and the door to their common room swung open. Hermione quickly went inside without looking at Draco and immediately headed for her room.

"Hermione wait."

Hermione stopped dead at the sound of her first name coming from her lips; she wasn't used to it. She slowly turned around, "What?"

"We should probably talk about this."

"About what; the fact that you took advantage of me tonight?"

Draco was not prepared for that, "Took advantage of you? Are you freaking nuts? You were kissing me back!"

"Well, I….I was trying to…."

"You were trying to what? See how far you could get your tongue down my throat?"

Hermione walked up to him and tried to hit him but he grabbed her arm and held it at her side. She tried to get free of his grip but he just held on tighter.

"Let me go!"

"So you can hit me? Not bloody likely."

Hermione struggled as hard as she could and Draco just held tighter. She looked up at his face and saw his eyes flashing from grey to blue as his emotions were running wild; he had the most gorgeous eyes she had ever seen. Suddenly she stopped struggling and reached up and kissed him. That was the last thing that Draco had expected but he just let go of her arms and wrapped his around her as the moment took them over. She was much shorter than he was and he was straining his neck to keep from breaking the kiss she he gently grabbed her ass and hoisted her up so that he had better access to her mouth and neck. Hermione eagerly obliged and wrapped her legs around him to keep from loosing her grip on him. Draco broke the kiss and explored ever inch of her neck with his lips, paying the most attention to the skin in between her neck and collarbone. Hermione's breathing was getting heavier by the second as she relished the feeling of his lips on her skin. They were so hot she just knew that he was leaving scorch marks everywhere his lips touched. All the while they were losing control, Draco was walking to the couch and he laid her down and supported most of his weight with the other hand so as not to squish her when he settled himself on top of her; never once did he break contact with her skin. Hermione took his face in her hands and brought his lips back to hers. As their lips were exploring each other, their hands were also exploring. Draco was lazily running his finger along her stomach and she shuddered at the contact. When Hermione ran her fingers along the waistband of Draco's jeans, he gasped and it was like ice-cold water had been thrown on his face.

He abruptly stopped and sat up, "What are we doing?"

Hermione was trying to control her breathing, "I don't know. I lost my mind a long time ago."

Draco smiled and moved to the other end of the couch, "How did any of this even happen?"

"I believe it started when I blackmailed you." Hermione tried to collect herself as best as possible.

"If you want to blame this all on yourself. I won't stop you."

Hermione smiled at that, "Either way, things have gotten way out of hand. Nothing can happen between us…right?"

Draco wanted so badly to continue their snogging session but he knew that this was his only opportunity to make things right, "Right. You and I come from two different worlds and all our friends hate each other. You and I is just…ridiculous."

"Yes, it's just crazy teenage hormones."

"Right; that's all it is."

"Right."

"Right."

They continued to sit on the couch and stare at each other for a moment until Hermione finally stood up.

"Well, goodnight then."

"Goodnight."

As the two went to their separate bedrooms, in the back of their minds they both knew that this was far from over.

TBC…

I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update! I really hope that this was worth the wait…it's only getting better from here! :)


	9. Plain Old Christmas Theme it is

Draco and Hermione had left many things unsaid after their last snogging session as an attempt to put an end to everything. Hermione had wanted so badly to find out if Draco really did have actual feelings for her and Draco had wanted so badly to tell her that their blood didn't mean a damn thing and that they were supposed to be together. What stopped them was the fact that they both knew that in reality they just weren't meant to be. As a distraction, they immersed themselves completely in their schoolwork and their social lives, taking care not to be alone with each other as much as possible. That was rather difficult though since they were alone together for two hours every night planning the dance because it was only a week away. Events of the last few months had taken hold of their lives and they had completely neglected their duties as the "dance planners." With the dance only a week away, they still had to find a band, decide on a theme and decorations, and plan the menu. Hermione had been lucky enough to book a band on insanely short notice and was pretty proud of herself. She was strutting around the common room trying to think of a good menu for a bunch of teenagers and uptight professors. She decided to have two separate tables; an elegant table decorated in silver and blue with all kinds of elegant foods for the professors and a second table decorated in red and green with the kinds of food that she knew kids liked. Draco wasn't having as much luck; he had no idea what kind of theme to do. Hermione noticed his tension when he threw an innocent book across the room right into the fireplace.

Hermione looked at him and he actually growled, "Do I look like a party planner? Do I look like I care about the damn theme of a stupid dance?"

Hermione cracked a small smile, "Drawing a blank?"

Draco growled again, "Not at all."

"Well, two obvious choices would be a masquerade ball or an actual Christmas theme with a huge tree with ornaments and Christmas decorations and boxes wrapped in festive wrapping paper."

Draco just looked at her.

"Or we could do a masquerade ball _with _a Christmas theme?"

Draco continued looking at her, "I'm not carrying around a damn mask all night."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Plain old Christmas theme it is." She squealed and ran up and hugged Draco, "We are actually done planning this dumb thing!"

Draco inhaled the intoxicating scent that assaulted his nose every time she walked into the room…a mix of lavender, Sweet Pea, and Vanilla. He felt his control slipping with every whiff and all the barriers he had tried so hard to build began to crumble. He leaned into her and his lips touched the skin behind Hermione's ear and he heard a sharp intake of breath and he was suddenly slammed back into reality. He let her go and backed up to a safe distance.

Hermione wanted to cry at the loss of contact but she cleared her throat instead, "I'm going to tell McGonagall that we've finished planning."

She grabbed their notes and quickly exited the common room. Draco grabbed another book and threw it at the fireplace hard enough to chip a brick.

Hermione headed for the Gryffindor common room after she left McGonagall's office. She said the password and walked in to join all her friends. Ginny was sitting on the couch with Harry, Ron, and Lavender. Lavender saw Hermione and her smile disappeared. She kissed Ron and then glared at Hermione before getting up to go join Parvati and Seamus. Hermione just rolled her eyes and plopped down next to Ron.

She put her head on his shoulder and smiled, "I don't think your girlfriend likes me."

Ron rested his head on her's, "She'll just have to get over it."

Hermione grinned, "That's why I love you."

Ron lifted his head and looked at her, "Are you alright? You're being awfully sentimental."

Hermione lifted her head and gently slapped his shoulder, "I'm fine."

"Good, so that means you are coming with us to Hogsmead tomorrow. Ginny's been talking our ears off all night about getting a dress for the dance."

"Yes, I'll be there but I can't afford a new dress."

Harry grinned, 'Why don't you just wear that black dress that we all saw you in when school first started."

"I couldn't possibly wear that dress. It's far too inappropriate for this dance. I'll just have to figure something else out."

Ginny smiled at her friend, "Yes and I'll help you. You will look beautiful."

Ron smiled sheepishly, "You never have to worry about not being beautiful Hermione."

Harry smiled at Ginny, "That goes for you too. You could both come to the dance in old potato sacks and you would steal beat out every girl in this school."

Hermione and Ginny shared an eye roll and Hermione chuckled, "All this sweetness is giving me a cavity." She leaned over and kissed Ron on the cheek all the while watching Lavender shoot death glares at her.

"I'm gonna go to bed. I'll see you guys at breakfast."

They all said goodbye and just as Hermione got to the door she saw Dean looking at her. She smiled shyly at him and stopped to say hi.

"Hey Hermione. I'm glad you're here; I wanted to ask you something. I know that we both agreed to just be friends but I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dance with me? Just as friends of course."

Hermione smiled at her friend, "I would like that Dean."

Dean smiled, "Great. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Hermione hugged Dean and headed back to her room.

Draco had spent most of the night in the Slytherin common room getting drunk with Blaise. He had almost successfully managed to wipe Hermione out of his mind when Blaise decided that it was the perfect moment to bring her up.

"Any good snogging sessions with our seriously fuckable Head Girl lately?"

Draco threw a pillow at Blaise's head, "That's over Blaise; I already told you that."

"I know what you told me; you are wrong though."

"Oh really? How do you figure?"

"I've seen the way you look at her and the way she looks at you. Your little tryst is far from over. In fact, I have a feeling that it's just beginning."

"You are completely delusional Zabini. That girl is nothing but bad news and I have no intention of starting anything with her. What's done is done and I fully intend to put it all behind me."

"Whatever you say mate. Now get out; I'm tired."

Draco chuckled and threw the empty whiskey bottle at his friend. Blaise caught it and tossed it in the wastebasket. "Are you going to Hogsmead tomorrow?"

"Yes, Pansy is insisting that I help her pick put a bloody dress for the dance. I figure that by the time we get there she will be so excited she will have totally forgotten about me and I will be able to sneak away."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll see you tomorrow then."

The boys did their little handshake hug thing and Draco went back to his room.

On the way to Hogsmead Hermione and Ginny were talking about the dance and the boys were talking about the next Quidditch match. When they arrived the boys went one way and Hermione and Ginny headed straight for their favorite dress shop. After what seemed like hours, but was really only forty five minutes, Ginny settled on a crimson dress that reached her mid thigh; it was simple yet elegant. Hermione was perusing the racks when she came across a light brown garment bag. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she pulled the bag off the rack and unzipped it.

She freed the dress from its shell and almost gasped, "Oh my God."

Ginny looked up and grinned, "Oh Hermione; that dress is stunning."

"I've never seen anything so gorgeous."

"You have to get it!"

Ginny took the dress out of Hermione's hand and laid it on the counter as well as her own, "We will take these please."

The shopkeeper smiled at the girls as she zipped Hermione's dress back up, "Either one of you girls will be breathtaking in this dress!"

Ginny smiled, "Thank you; It's for my friend here."

The woman smiled at Hermione, "Oh my dear, you are going to turn some heads in this dress. Though from the looks of you I would say that you already do."

Hermione blushed, "Thank you ma'am."

The woman smiled and turned her attention to Ginny's dress, "Let me get you a bag for this one my dear; it will go beautifully with your gorgeous hair!"

Ginny blushed also, "Thank you ma'am; how much?"

The woman told them and Hermione gasped, "Oh Ginny you can't possible afford that."

Ginny pulled out her money and handed it to the woman, "I can't...but Harry can."

"Harry gave you the money?"

"He did; he heard what you said last night about not being able to afford a new dress so he gave me the money and told me not to leave this shop without a dress for you."

"Well I'm sure I can find a cheaper dress."

"Nonsense; It's already done!" Ginny took her change and thanked the shopkeeper as she handed Hermione's dress to her, grabbed her own and pulled Hermione out of the store before she could object anymore. Hermione saw Harry and Ron coming down the street and she gave her dress to Ginny so she could run and give Harry a hug. She ran into his arms and he picked her up and spun her around.

"Oh Harry, I couldn't possibly accept the dress!"

Harry put her down and smiled, "So you found one then."

Ginny held up the dress bag, "Yes, and it is absolutely gorgeous!"

"But much too expensive; I can't take it."

"Ginny already paid for it; it's yours."

"But it was so expensive. I can't let you-"

Harry put his finger to her lips, "Not another word Hermione. This is the last dance of our last year at Hogwarts. You are keeping the dress."

A tear slid down Hermione's cheek and she hugged Harry again, "Thank you so much!"

Ginny kissed Harry and took Hermione's hand, "Now we have to go find shoes!"

The girls ran off and Ron rolled his eyes, "Girls."

End of Chapter 9

(Next chapter will be the dance!)


	10. And so it Begins

The week went by in a whirl and Draco and Hermione busied themselves with their schoolwork and friends, being careful not to spend any time alone together. As much as they tried to deny it, they both knew that there was something between them and any time they were within ten feet of each other the tension was so thick it almost suffocated them. They did their bests to push all the drama out of their minds and focus on the dance that was only hours away. As soon as classes had let out for the weekend, Hermione headed straight to the Great Hall to start setting up. Where the head table used to be was now a huge tree covered from top to bottom in blue and silver lights, ornaments, and garlands. The tree topper was a huge silver star that stood out over everything else. Under the tree were dozens of boxes in many different sizes wrapped in blue and silver wrapping paper. The walls and ceiling were covered with blue and silver decorations and each wall had a banner representing each of the four houses. Against the far left wall Hermione had set up a banquet table with food for the professors and on the far right wall was a table with food for the students. She put a spell on all of the food to keep it at the proper temperature until the dance. When Hermione was finished with everything, she stood back to admire her work and then she kissed her wand; what took forty five minutes with magic would have taken hours normally. After setting up, Hermione went to find Ginny so that they could get ready for the dance together. One of the advantages of being Head Girl was that she had her own room for such occasions.

Ginny brought her huge makeup bag and sat Hermione down in front of the mirror, "When I'm done with you, Malfoy will be putty in your hands."

Hermione put her hair back to get it out of her face and she glared at Ginny, "I have no idea what you are talking about; I'm going to the dance with Dean."

Ginny scoffed, "Oh please, I've noticed what's been going on between you two all week. Neither one of you can even breathe when the other is around."

Hermione frowned, "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to me because I'm your friend and I know you."

"What about Harry and Ron?"

"Oh please, neither one of them would notice a Blast-Ended Screwt if it was chewing on their fingers."

"I don't know what to do Ginny; I've tried so hard to push Malfoy out of my mind but it isn't working."

"I'm your best friend and I will support you no matter what you do. All I'm going to say on this matter is be careful...very careful."

"I can't be with Malfoy for so many reasons. Not to mention the fact that he can't stand me."

Ginny smiled, "That is a load of rubbish and you know it; Malfoy is seriously into you."

"Well it would be a lot easier if he weren't!"

"If he weren't into you, NONE of this would be happening."

"Oh you know what I mean!"

"Relax Hermione; everything will work itself out."

"Well aren't you just the optimist." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Somebody has to be." Ginny put her finishing touches on Hermione's makeup and then started on her hair.

When her hair and makeup was finished, Hermione changed while Ginny got ready. After the girls were dressed they added a couple finishing touches and then stopped to admire their work in the mirror before heading to the Great Hall.

~~

Draco had been ready for almost an hour and now he was in the Slytherin common room just waiting for Pansy to finish getting ready. Blaise was the only other person in the common room so he seized the opportunity to continue grilling Draco.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on with you and Granger or not?"

"There is NOTHING going on with me and Granger."

"You are a bad liar Draco. Do you want some advice?"

"No."

"Well you're going to get it anyway; just go for it. You know as well as I do that that is the only way that you will be able to get her out of your system."

"Are you mental Blaise? That would be the worst possible thing that I could do. Nothing good could possibly come from 'just going for it.' "

Blaise grinned, "Well, there is ONE good thing that could come from it."

"Don't think that I haven't thought about it; I have. But the bad things out weigh the good and I am not going to risk thoroughly fucking things up; she's not worth it."

"You don't believe that any more than I do; sooner or later you're going to break."

"Thanks for the confidence."

Blaise smiled, "That's what I'm here for."

Before Draco could get out a retort, Pansy came gliding down the stairs.

Draco glared at her, "It's about bloody time."

Pansy frowned, "That's all you have to say? How do I look?"

Draco barely spared her a glance, "You look fine; let's go."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door with Blaise following behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco was searching the room for a certain someone when Blaise walked up to him, "Looking for anyone in particular?" He smirked.

Draco looked at him, daring him to say one more word. Blaise looked past him at the entrance to the Great Hall and his jaw dropped, "Holy shit."

Draco turned around and stared in awe at the sight before him. Hermione was standing at the door in a floor length gown. The straps were off the shoulder and the neckline started just above her breasts with see-through lace and then became silky smooth dark blue material that hugged her curves just right. The bottom fell to the floor in two layers and just barely touched the ground. Her shoes were dark blue strappy sandals with two-inch heels. Her hair was tied into a loose bun with small curly strands hanging loosely and two larger strands to frame her face. She was wearing dark blue glittery eye shadow to match her dress and sheer pink lipstick. There was a little glitter on her cheeks and chest and to finish off the effect. When Hermione walked into the room, she could feel everyone looking at her. She looked at Ginny who smiled and squeezed her hand for assurance before heading over to Harry.

Blaise put his hand on Draco's shoulder, "Don't forget to breathe."

Draco kept his eyes on Hermione as she searched the hall for Dean. She spotted Draco and their eyes locked. He held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity before she was pulled out by Dean's hand on her shoulder.

She turned to him and smiled, "You look great Dean."

Dean just stared at her, "You look…absolutely stunning."

Hermione blushed a bit, "Thank you."

Her took her hand and led her to the dance floor to meet Harry and Ron.

"You look incredible." Ron smiled.

"You look gorgeous." Harry grinned at her.

Hermione blushed again and hugged Harry, "Thanks to you."

Harry scoffed, "You would look gorgeous in a paper bag."

After a few minutes of conversation, Professor McGonagall gathered everyone's attention, "Welcome everyone to this year's Yule Ball. Let's all thank our Head Boy and Girl for doing such a wonderful job with the decorations; Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy."

Everyone clapped and the two smiled at the crowd.

"And as is tradition," McGonagall continued, "They will share the first dance."

Everyone clapped, except for Ron and Harry who just glared at Draco. Hermione smiled at them, "I will be fine. It's just one dance." She walked towards the center of the floor to meet Draco, "Just breathe." She said to herself. When she saw him, his eyes were on her and no one else. He put one hand in hers and put his other hand around her waist and gently pulled her closer. The music started and they moved along with the rhythm.

"You are absolutely breathtaking." He whispered in her ear.

"I never knew that I could look like this." Hermione replied.

Draco looked at her, "I've known since day one."

When Hermione smiled at him, it took every bit of strength he had not to kiss her right there in front of the entire school. Instead, he continued dancing with her and he looked at the crowd, searching for something to get his mind off her. He settled on a couple from Ravenclaw who were in the back corner arguing about something. The girl said something, the guy said something and pointed to her dress, and then the girl slapped him and stormed out of the Hall; Draco smiled at this. The song ended and the two stopped dancing.

"Thank you." Hermione said with a smile.

"The pleasure was all mine; the decorations look great by the way." Draco said.

Hermione smiled at him again and left him to join Ron and the others.

The dance was a huge success and everyone had a blast. Draco and Hermione kept stealing glances at each other when no one was watching and when they saw each other dancing with their dates, they desperately wished that they were dancing together. Shortly after midnight Hermione noticed that Draco had left. She finished making her rounds to make sure that everyone was having a good time, then she and her friends went to the Gryffindor common room to hang out. Everyone had pretty much coupled off and Hermione was in an empty corner with Dean. He was holding her hand and she was trying so hard to focus on him, but all she could think about was Draco. Dean leaned in and kissed Hermione; it was sweet and gentle. It was nothing like how Draco kissed her. When Draco kissed her it was raw and heated and she always felt like she would explode if he stopped.

Dean's kiss only lasted a moment and when he pulled away he smiled sadly, "There's someone else isn't there?"

Hermione sighed, "I'm sorry Dean; you are a great guy and under different circumstances, I would defiantly be interested."

The sadness left Dean's smile, "It's fine Hermione; I understand. I just hope this guy realizes how lucky he is."

Hermione chuckled, "Well, that remains to be seen."

Hermione gave Dean a chaste kiss and decided to call it a night. Hermione got to the door of her common room and was just about to say the password when she heard two voices on the other side.

Draco took off his jacket and tossed it on the couch as Pansy continued whining at him, "You have been avoiding me all night Draco."

"That's ridiculous; I've been _dancing _with you all night. I would hardly consider that to be avoiding you."

"You weren't talking to me; it felt like you didn't even want to be around me. We even left early."

"Then go back, I'm not stopping you." Draco barked.

"What is the matter with you? You've been acting really strange the past few weeks."

"Nothing is wrong; maybe I am just getting tired of you constantly following me around like a little puppy dog!"

"You used to like the attention."

"I've never been interested in you Pansy! I've just put up with you for so long it was like a routine."

"It's another girl isn't it?" Pansy looked dejected as she said those words.

"You are insane. There is no other girl Pansy; there is no girl _period_!"

"You never were a very good liar. I know who it is; it's Granger isn't it?"

That caught Draco off guard. It also caught Hermione off guard as she stood on the other side of the common room entrance listening to everything.

"You have got to be kidding me. What in the Hell would ever make you think that I have a thing for Granger?" Draco was almost yelling, but Pansy kept her voice at a low level.

"I see the way you look at her. You don't make fun of her anymore; you just ignore her. It's painfully obvious that you have feelings for her. I can only imagine what your father would say if he knew this information."

Draco stormed over to Pansy and grabbed her arm and squeezed it until it turned red, "You listen carefully because I am only going to say this once; you will not say one bloody _word _to my father about _anything! _Do you understand me!" Draco's words were dripping with venom.

Pansy kept calm, "Tell me again that you feel nothing for her." With that said Pansy jerked her arm away from him and left the common room.

Hermione stayed out of sight until Pansy left, then she cautiously entered the common room. Draco thought Pansy had come back and he stormed towards the door and stopped short when he saw it was Hermione.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked with a scowl.

Hermione looked at him like he was crazy, "Uh, I live here?"

"Thanks for the information. I mean now; it's still early."

"I could ask you the same thing; your night with Pansy not going so well?"

"Did you hear what we were talking about?"

"Nope."

Draco smirked. "You are a bad liar."

"Well, what can I say? I don't do it often."

"You really are Miss Perfect aren't you?"

"I'm hardly perfect."

"Really? What have you ever done?"

"Most of it involves you." Hermione blushed and looked away.

"News flash…nobody's perfect; not even you."

"I'd be a lot closer to perfect if it weren't for you." Hermione stated.

Draco grinned, "Well, I do what I can."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Goodnight Draco."

Hermione tossed and turned for an hour before she gave up on sleep and got up to make some tea. She grabbed her coffee mug and a bag of her favorite honey vanilla chamomile tea headed to the bathroom for some hot water. She settled in front of the fireplace with her tea and favorite book. Hermione was at her favorite place in her book when she heard Draco's door open and saw him descend the stairs.

Hermione put her book aside and smiled, "Couldn't sleep either?"

Draco sat on the floor in front of the couch, "Nope; too much on my mind."

Hermione took a sip of her tea and scooted onto the floor next to Draco, "Just a shot in the dark here, but I think we probably have the same stuff on our minds."

"I'd say it's a safe bet."

"We should probably talk about it."

"It would be the smart thing to do."

"I can't stop thinking about you."

"When I saw you tonight…all the resolve I had flew out the window."

Hermione was staring into the fire, refusing to look at Draco, "I've done everything I can to get you out of my head, but you just won't go away."

Draco smiled, "Is that a bad thing?"

"I think we both know that it is."

"Well, what are we going to do about it?"

"The same thing we always do I guess; agree that it's a horrible idea and run away from it."

Draco put his hand on Hermione's cheek and turned her face towards him so she would look at him, "I'm tired of running."

Hermione looked at him for a minute before she responded, "So am I."

That was all Draco needed; he leaned down and captured Hermione's lips with his before she could change her mind. Hermione had no intention of changing her mind as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. Draco grabbed a pillow from the couch and put it under Hermione's head. Draco ran his lips down Hermione's neck and across her shoulder. His hands explored every inch of Hermione's uncovered skin and stopped when he got to the top button of her shirt.

"If we go any further, I won't be able to stop Hermione."

Hermione responded by putting her hand's on Draco's and helping him undo the buttons. He removed her shirt and stared in awe at the scenery before him, "You are so beautiful Hermione."

He kissed her again and moved down her neck turned his attention to her breasts. He ran his tongue over her nipple and Hermione moaned at the contact; she had never gone this far with a boy before and all her senses we on overload. Draco moved from one breast to the other and reveled in the feeling of Hermione running her hands through his hair. Draco looped his thumbs into the waistband of her shorts and underwear and removed them both in one swift motion. He moved back to her lips savoring the taste of her tea as their tongues explored every inch of each other's mouths. Hermione pushed Draco's pants down as far as her arms could reach and then Draco pushed them down the rest of the way. Without hesitating, Hermione reached down and shyly stroked Draco's shaft.

Draco sucked in a breath, "Oh God Hermione; you are going to be the death of me."

"Touch me Draco…please."

Those words coming out of Hermione's gorgeous mouth almost made Draco lose it right there. Draco continued his assault on Hermione's mouth and slowly ran his fingers over her breasts, down her stomach, and over her pussy. He spread her lips with his finger and ran it over her most sensitive spot. Hermione gasped and moaned at the feeling of Draco's fingers exploring her most private places. Draco knew she was a virgin so he had to take things slow. He had waited so long for this moment; he wasn't going to risk hurting her. Hermione squirmed under Draco's hand as her body started going into overload. The tingly sensation started in her toes and slowly started climbing and she let out an intense moan.

Draco's fingers picked up their pace, "That's it Hermione; come for me."

The pressure continued to build and then everything in her body exploded as she had her very first orgasm. When the tremors subsided, Hermione reached up and pulled Draco into an intense kiss and Draco took that as his cue.

He positioned himself at her entrance, "This is going to hurt."

"That's ok; I'm ready."

Hermione kissed him again and Draco pushed himself into her. Hermione cried out against Draco's mouth and he stopped so she could adjust to him.

"Are you ok?"

Hermione smiled, "I'm very ok."

Draco returned her smile and slid all the way into her. He pulled out and slowly pushed in again careful not to go too fast. Hermione pulled him back into a kiss and savored the feeling of him thrusting in and out as he gained a steady rhythm. Unfortunately he had been so worked up when they began it only lasted a few minutes and with one final thrust he came. He collapsed onto Hermione and she held him close. Draco reached up and grabbed a blanket off the end of the couch and covered them both and they quickly fell into a blissful sleep.

Ok, I am not very good at writing love scenes…I hope it wasn't too disappointing! Please review! :)


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